m I although forlorn!
I 've seen brave Britto's son, the wild,
The powerful champion, Fergus, too,
Gray-haired Foradden, Strona's child--
These were the heroes great and true!

HUNTER.

Thou hast well began, but tell to me,
And say what further hast thou known!
E'er Donegal abode with thee,
In the Fersaid these all were gone!

OWL.

Great Alexander of the spears,
The mightiest chief of Albyn's race,
Oft have I heard his voice in cheers
From the green hill-side speed the chase;
I saw him after Angus brave--
Nor less a noble warrior he--
Fersaid his home, his work he gave
Unto the Mill of Altavaich.

HUNTER.

From wild Lochaber, then, the sword
With war's dread inroads swept apace;
Where, gloomy-brow'd and ancient bird,
Was then thy secret hiding-place?

OWL.

When the fierce sounds of terror burst,
And plunder'd herds were passing on,
I turn'd me from the sight accurst
Unto the craig Gunaoch lone;
Some of my kindred by the lands
Of Inch and Fersaid sought repose,
Some by Loch Laggan's lonely sands,
Where their lamenting cries arose!

Here follows a noble burst of poetical fervour in praise of the lonely
rock, and the scenes of the huntsman's youth. The green plains, the wild
harts, the graceful beauty of the brown deer, and the roaring stag, with
the banners, ensigns, and streamers of the race of Cona,--all share in
the poet's admiration. The following constitutes the exordium of the
poem:--

Oh rock of my heart! for ever secure,
The rock where my childhood was cherish'd in love,
The haunt of the wild birds, the stream flowing pure,
And the hinds and the stags that in liberty rove;
The rock all encircled by sounds from the grove,
Oh, how I delighted to linger by thee,
When arose the wild cry of the hounds as they drove,
The herds of wild deer from their fastnesses free!
Loud scream'd the eagles around thee, I ween,
Sweet the cuckoos and the swans in their pride,
More cheering the kid-spotted fawns that were seen,
With their bleating, that sweetly arose by thy side,
I love thee, O wild rock of refuge! of showers,
Of the leaves and the cresses, all glorious to me,
Of the high grassy heights and the beautiful bowers
Afar from the smooth shelly brink of the sea!

The termination o