Page:The mythology of ancient Britain and Ireland (IA mythologyofancie00squiiala).pdf/78

 and is defeated by the joint efforts of the Fenians and the Tuatha Dé Danann.

Ossian takes, of course, a prominent part in the stories which are so much associated with his name. But he is especially connected with what might be called the 'post-Fenian ballads,' in which the heroic deeds of Finn and his men are told in the form of dialogues between Ossian and St. Patrick. They hinge upon the legend that Ossian escaped the fate of the rest of his kin by being taken to Tir nan Og, the 'Land of Youth,'—the Celtic Paradise of old and the Celtic Fairyland of to-day—by the fairy, or goddess, Niamh (Neeave), daughter of Manannán mac Lir. Here he enjoyed three hundred years of divine youth, while time changed the face of the world outside. In the end he longs to see his own country again, and Niamh mounts him upon a magic horse, warning him not to put foot upon earthly soil. But his saddle-girth breaks, Ossian falls to earth, and rises up, a blind old man, stripped of the gifts of the gods.

The ballad 'Dialogues' recite the arguments held between the saint and the hero. Saint Patrick presses the new creed and culture upon his unwilling guest, who answers him with passionate laments for the days that are dead. Patrick tells