on thee, as there shall soon be on me also. Doctor, the last time I played upon that harp, when you left me the strings all snapt, one by one, like brothers. They perished, and the sorrowful tone of the music that was departing for ever from them was like the groan of death, when soul from clay is severed. Take it away now, and lay it by in peace."

It was raised, and slowly removed. I observed his eye tracing its passage through the room, as we watch the receding bark that bears away our love. When the door was closed against it, he composedly leaned back, covered up his face, one slight shudder, and there was the silence and the awe we all must feel when death is with us-in the very same room.

THE COURSE OF LIFE.-TO DONNA.

WHEN darkness spreads its gloomy pall o'er heaven, and earth, and sea,
Their shrouded beauties, wrapt in night, as death, must joyless be;
And yet beneath its blighting shade the seaman stems the tide-
Fearless, he trusts to one true star, where all are false beside:-
His wildest course is ruled by it, while time, where space, are found,—
Unseen, 'tis felt, like heaven's warmth, to shed its influence round:-
And thus should man life's ocean steer, though dark his fate may prove,
His heart the vessel of his care-his polar star still love.

When morning comes, like music's tread, o'er harmony to run,
As nature's charms unfolded meet the glories of the sun,
'Tis like the burst of youthful love, that sports in joyous glee,
O'er feelings that have slept until its magic set them free :---
The day, like manhood, lives on smiles, from one pure source of light,
That sheds mid fortune's clouds its joy-mid sorrow's tears delight,
Until it dies, when evening's shades entomb that light above,-
And thus should life itself depart, when sets the sun of love!

ALLAN.

WAR SONG OF THE IRISH BARDS,

BEFORE THE BATTLE OF CLONTARF.

"Tempora mutantur et nos mutamur in illis !"

THE memorable battle of Clontarf was fought on Good Friday, the 23d of April, 1014, between the combined armies of Leinster and Denmark, and the forces of Munster, Connaught, and Ulster. The great opulence of Ireland under the excellent administration of Brian Boru, by whom she was recovered from all her misfortunes, and restored to her ancient splendour, tempted the Danes to seize on the favorable opportunity which the revolt of Maolmorda king of Leinster afforded them, of permanently settling in the country, and dividing it among themselves as they had long intended. For this purpose they took their families on board their fleet, and, determined as far as possible, to exterminate the Milesians. But being convinced, by the bloody and unsuccessful experience of more than two centuries, how difficult this enterprise would prove, the Danes collected the bravest warriors from their own country, Sweden, Norway, Normandy, Britain, the Hebrides, the Orkneys, the Shetland Islands, and the Isle of Man. The command of these troops was entrusted by Canute to his High Admiral Broder, a bold and experienced officer of royal blood, with orders, however, to act under Maolmorda, who, upon his junction with these formidable reinforcements, was at the head of 60,000 men. The Milesian army-owing to the absence of some Eugenian or South Munster forces, and the base defection of Malachy, ex-monarch of Ireland and king of Tara, who from motives of petty revenge, and personal jealousy against Brian Boru, refused to join in the fight-amounted only to between twenty-eight and twentynine thousand men. They were led to action by Murrough, the eldest son of the illustrious Brian, who, though he was in his eightyeighth year, is described by our old annalists, as riding through the ranks of his countrymen with a crucifix in one hand and his goldenhilted sword in the other, exhorting them to do their duty: after which he was, with much difficulty, prevailed upon, notwithstanding his great age, to retire to his tent. There he waited the result of the day in prayer before the emblem of his suffering Redeemer, having nobly determined, in case of a defeat, to perish with his whole race, whom to the number of three sons, his brave grandson Turlough, aged only fifteen, and fifteen nephews, he led to oppose the inveterate enemies of his country and religion. The conflict commenced at sun-rise and continued till late in the evening, when, after one of the most desperately-fought engagements recorded in history, the Northmen were totally routed. Their loss amounted to between 14,000 and 16,000 men, including a chosen band of 1000 Danish veterans, cased in heavy armour from head to foot. Amongst the slain were Maolmorda, Broder, Charles and Henry, the sons of Enricus

or Eric king of Norway, Dolat, Conmaol, and Plait, three eminent Scandinavian champions, and Sigurd, the potent and martial earl of Orkney-an extensive feudal and piratical sovereignty, embracing, at its most flourishing era, not only the Orkneys, the Hebrides, the Shetland Islands, and the Isle of Man, but the three northern counties of Scotland, with large possessions in Inverness and Argyleshire, as well as in Ireland. But this glorious victory was dearly purchased by the deaths of Brian the Alfred, and Murroughin strength and valour, though not in invulnerability-the Achilles of their country; Turlough, the monarch's gallant grandson; the brave Sitric, prince of Ulster; the warlike thanes, or earls of Lennox and Mar, who, as the descendants of the same ancestors, came to assist Brian against the common foes of Ireland and Scotland; many other distinguished princes and nobles, and from four to seven thousand men. It is rather remarkable, that although the English Saxons were completely subjugated about this period by the Danish kings, Sweyn and his son Canute the Great, yet our ancestors, the Milesian Irish, entirely defeated the numerous and elsewhere invincible armies of those princes, aided, as such formidable invaders were, by the powerful alliance of Leinster.(1)

I.

Sons of Erin, march on; grasp your swords, shields, and lances,
Whirl around the swift sling, draw the death-shafted bow,

And spur the bold steed, that impatiently prances

To trample in slaughter the bands of the foe;

For see! o'er your lines,

How gloriously shines

The "SUN-BURST" (2) resplendently blazing on high,

And a thousand harps sound

Their loud notes around,

That call on the valiant to conquer or die.

II.

On, on to the charge-Lochlin's chiefs set in motion

Her myriads from Alba (3) to Thyle's icy shore ;(4)

But though countless-the waves of yon vast raging ocean
Shall meet with the rocks they've been dashed from before.
Maolmorda may bring,

'Gainst his country and king,

(1) O'Halloran's History of Ireland, book xi. chap. 8.; Lanigan's Ecclesiastical History, vol. iii. chap. xxiii. sec. 9 to 11, Vallancey's Collectanea, vol. i. p. 536 to 543.

(2) The signal for engaging among the Milesians was given by elevating the royal standard called Gall-grena, or the "blazing sun"

Bright waving from its staff in air,

Gall-grena high was raised,

With gems that India's wealth declare,
In radiant pomp it blazed.

Miss Brooke's Reliques of Ancient Irish Poetry; p. 58.

(3) "The word Alba, not Albin, is the Irish name for Scotland."-O'Reilly, Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, vol. xvi. part ii. p. 186.

(4) Thule, or Iceland, (according to the opinion of many eminent classical authorities.) was well known to, and visited by, the Irish, even so early as the fifth century. They called it Inis Thyle, the island of Thyle. See Lanigan's Ecclesiastical History of Ireland, vol. i. chap. viii, sec. 8. p. 401, and vol. iii. sec. 4. p. 220, and 224 to 228; a work of profound, extensive, curious, and even general information, as far as the nature of its subject permits. 3 U

VOL. I. NO. XI.

Yon barbarous invaders, that darken the field;
But ere night veils the sky,

Their proudest shall fly,

For Freedom's our spear, and Religion our shield.

III.

Hark! that wide-clashing signal-the foe calls on Odin, (5)
(Grim fiend, on whose altars what thousands have bled !) (6)
But Erin still boasts the same valour that glowed in

Her sons, when by Brian to victory led.

'Tis true that no more,

The king we adore,

Can lead us to scatter the Infidel's might;

But is Murrough not here ?

And what heart can know fear,

While that "sword of his country” is brandished in fight?

IV.

In vain to his chieftains dark Broder engages

To give thy green fields to the plundering Dane,(7)
Belov'd island of heroes, of saints, and of sages !

Thou never shalt crouch to a conqueror's chain.

Our fathers defied,

And humbled the pride

Of Rome's haughty legions, that vanquished the world ;(8)

Then Canute send forth

All the powers of the North,

Yon spell-woven raven to earth shall be hurled. (9)

(5) Mallet, speaking of the ancient Scandinavians, says, "When they were going to join battle, they raised great shouts, they clashed their arms together, they invoked with a great noise the name of Odin, and sometimes sung hymns in his praise.”—Northern Antiquities, vol. i. chap. ix. p. 237-English translation.

(6) For an account of the human sacrifices of the Danes, Norwegians, and Swedes, see Mallet, vol. i. chap. vii. p. 132 to 139.

(7) The following description of the famous Broder, who both slew and was slain by the monarch Brian, according to the narrative adopted by O'Halloran, is literally translated from an old Scandinavian annalist:-"Broder, after having embraced Christianity, and having been advanced even to deacon's orders, had apostatised, and turning a blasphemer of God, became a worshipper of the deities of the Gentiles. He far surpassed every other person in the knowledge of magic, and, when arrayed in military armour, he was able to ward off any weapon. Moreover, he was of great stature and powerful strength; and his hair-the black colour of which darkened his countenance-he wore at such a length that he could have covered it with his belt."-Johnstone, Antiquitates Celto-Scandice. p. 113. Of the sanguinary and rapacious resolution of the Pagan Danes, in case of success, with reference to the lives and properties of the Milesians, or "mere Irish," the following account is given from the Latin chronicle of a contemporary French author, Ademar, a monk of St. Eparchius of Angouleme :-" About this period (says the monkish annalist) the Northmen already mentioned, undertaking an enterprise, the victorious conclusion of which their forefathers never presumed upon, invaded, with an innumerable fleet, and accompanied by their wives, their children, and their Christian prisoners, whom they reduced to be their slaves, the island Hibernia, likewise called Irlanda, in order that, THE IRISH BEING EXTERMINATED, THEY MIGHT COLONIZE THAT MOST OPULENT COUNTRY FOR THEMSELVES!"-Labbe Nova Bibl. MSS. libr. tom. 2, apud Lanigan Eccles. Hist. vol. iii. p. 423. What a remarkable resemblance there is between the exterminating and plundering design of these Heathens, with regard to the native Irish of their time, and the English Christianity with which the unfortunate descendants of the conquerors of Clontarf were subsequently treated for so many centuries!

(8) According to the testimony of Irish and Roman history, the numerous defeats and final expulsion of the "lords of the world" from the "sister kingdom" were chiefly attributable to the valour of the Irish, then called Scots, in conjunction with their tributary allies, the Picts. Opposed to their united attack, the enormous barrier of the Roman wall, which stretched from sea to sea across the island, proved unavailing; and, while their Saxon confederates (not masters!) ravaged the coasts of England by sea, the Scots and Picts extended their predatory incursions through the interior of the province. Nor are the maritime invasions of Britain and Gaul, by many of our ancient kings-especially those of Crimthan or Criomthan I., Nial the Great, and Dathy-less celebrated.-See O'Conor's Introduction to Dissertations on the History of Ireland, sect. xiv. p. 23.

(9) The ensign of the Danes was a raven, and the general belief of the Pagan Scandinavians,

V.

Oh, thou who this day upon Calvary suspended,
Expired on the cross for the sins of mankind;
Oh, thou who, when ruin o'er Israel impended,
From five mighty monarchs for vengeance combined,
Caused the sun to stand still,

O'er Gibeon's bright hill,

Till the hosts of the Gentile lay writhing in dust; (10)
Then, Lord! let thy name

Fill yon Heathens with shame,

For in thee is our refuge, our hope, and our trust.

VI.

Sons of Erin, march on, grasp your swords, shields, and lances,
Whirl around the swift sling-draw the death-shafted bow-
And spur the bold steed, that impatiently prances,

To trample in slaughter the bands of the foe;

For, see! o'er your lines,

How gloriously shines

The "SUN-BURST" resplendently blazing on high,

And a thousand harps sound

Their loud notes around,

That call on the valiant to conquer or die.

CONLA.

in such things as charmed weapons and magical banners, is a matter of historical notoriety.On the defeat of Hubba, the Dane, during the reign of Alfred the Great, Hume relates that Oddune, Earl of Devonshire, captured "the famous Reafen, or enchanted standard, in which the Danes put great confidence. It contained the figure of a raven, which had been enwoven by the three sisters in Hinguar and Hubba, with many magical incantations, and which, by its different movements, prognosticated, as the Danes believed, the good or bad success of any enterprise."

(10) Joshua, chap x.