Note 38 — INTRODUCTION. (continued 2)
Thomas Maclauchlan translation
The scene of this poem is in Scotland, the sea of Tallann being said to be in the east, and it must have been written in Scotland, as the accent is placed on the first syllable of the name Oisin.
The Highlanders call a whale muic mhara, and, from the description, this creature appears to have been a whale.
On communicating this curious poem to Professor O’Curry, he informs me that there is a copy of it in the Book of Leinster, an MS. of the thirteenth century. The text is the same, but the glosses a little different.
I may take this opportunity of calling attention to Professor O’Curry’s admirable Lectures on the MS. literature of Ireland, just published. They are most interesting and instructive, and for the masterly and complete survey taken of the subject, as well as for accurate and minute detail, they are almost unexampled in the annals of literature. They will well repay perusal.