Carric-Thura by James Macpherson
Carric-Thura is a poem in which Fingal, returning from war, sails to relieve the besieged Cathulla of Inistore, defeats the spirit of Loda, and spares the conquered king Frothal of Sora. It opens at Selma, where Ullin and the bards welcome the king home with song. Fingal asks for music, announcing that tomorrow he will sail to Carric-thura, the mossy walls of Sarno where Comala once dwelt, to feast with the noble Cathulla. At his request, Cronnan and Minona sing the tale of Shilric and Vinvela. Shilric goes to the wars of Fingal and asks Vinvela to raise his grave if he falls, and she promises to remember him. Fingal recalls the chief and notes that he has vanished from the ranks. The song then tells how Shilric returned to his hills and found Vinvela dead. Her pale form appeared to him on the heath and then faded like mist, and he resolved to sit by the mossy fountain and call for her voice at mid-day. At morning the king sails, and Inistore comes into view, but a warning flame edged with smoke burns on top of Carric-thura, the sign of distress. Fingal strikes his breast, takes his spear and falls silent in terrible anger. Night forces his ship into Rotha's bay, where the circle of Loda, a mossy stone of power, stands on a rock above the shore. The heroes feast and sleep, but Fingal climbs the hill alone to watch the distant flame. There the spirit of Loda comes on the wind, shaking a dusky spear. Fingal orders him to retire. The spirit boasts that he rules the storm and claims the king of Sora as his son, who will prevail at Carric-thura, and he threatens Fingal. Fingal draws his sword, the blade of dark-brown Luno, and cuts through the form. The spirit falls shapeless like smoke and shrieks as he rises on the wind, shaking Inistore. Fingal rejoins his men, who had missed him and risen in rage, and the night ends in songs and tales of heroes. The poem then turns to Frothal, who sits in sadness beneath a tree while his host surrounds Carric-thura. Years before, when his father Annir reigned in Sora, a storm carried Frothal to Inistore. He feasted three days in Sarno's halls, fell in love with Comala and tried to seize her. Cathulla fought him and bound him, and on the fourth day Sarno sent him home. Frothal's wrath against Cathulla lasted until, after Annir's stone of fame was raised, he came back to besiege Carric-thura. In the morning Frothal's chiefs see Fingal approaching. Thubar of Tora urges him to seek peace, but Frothal refuses to yield. His people break against Fingal like a stream against a rock and flee, and a rising hill saves them. Frothal decides to fight the king alone. He sends a bard to demand the combat and tells Thubar to carry a message of love to Utha, daughter of Herman, who dwells by Thano's stream. Utha has followed him unseen in a man's armor, and she drops her spear three times when she sees the bard go. In the duel Fingal's sword cuts Frothal's shield in two, leaving him exposed. Utha rushes to cover him but trips on a fallen oak and falls. Fingal pities her and stays his sword. He says his blade has never pierced a fallen foe, tells Frothal to let his people and the maid he loves rejoice, and invites him to the feast of Inistore. Frothal praises the king as terrible in battle and gentle in peace. Fingal answers that bards remember only chiefs who are strong in war and spare the weak. The gates of Carric-thura open for a feast. Ullin sings, and Utha asks for a song of grief. Crimora, daughter of Rinval of Lotha, speaks with Connal, who warns that Dargo comes tomorrow to test the race of Fingal. Crimora gives him her father's shield, which failed to save Rinval from Gormar's spear. She then asks for arms to fight beside him. Utha asks whether Crimora lived, and Ullin completes the tale. In the battle Crimora, dressed as a warrior, drew her bow on Dargo but missed and struck Connal, who fell. She cried for him all night and day and died of grief, and one tomb on the hill holds the pair. Utha promises to remember them with tears. After three days of feasting, the kings part. Fingal sails home to Morven on the north wind. The spirit of Loda sits in his cloud behind the ships of Frothal and fills their sails with his blasts, still fearing the hand of the king.
By James Macpherson · First published 1765 · Genre: Epic poetry, Elegiac poetry, Ossianic poetry · 5,000 words
First lines
Argument. Fingal, returning from an expedition which he had made into the Roman province, resolved to visit Cathulla, king of Inistore, and brother to Comala, whose story is related at large in the preceding dramatic poem. Upon his coming in sight of Carric-thura, the palace of Cathulla, he observed a flame on its top, which, in those days, was a signal of distress. The wind drove him into a bay, at some distance from Carric-thura, and he was obliged to pass the night on shore. Next day he attacked the army of Fro-thai, king of Sora, who had besieged Cathulla in his palace of Carric-thura, and took Frothal himself prisoner, after he had engaged him in a single combat. The deliverance of Carric-thura is the subject of the poem; but several other episodes are interwoven with it. It appears, from tradition, that this poem was addressed to a Culdee, or one of the first Christian missionaries, and that the story of the spirit of Loda, supposed to be the ancient Odin of Scandinavia, was introduced by Ossian in opposition to the Culdee's doctrine. Be this as it will, it lets us into Ossian's notions of a superior Being j and shows us that he was not addicted to the superstition which prevailed all the world over, before the introduction of Christianity.
Similar titles
Genres
- Epic poetry — The main plot is a heroic campaign in which Fingal sails to Inistore, defeats Frothal of Sora in single combat and lifts the siege of Carric-thura, following the conventions of epic with battles, champions, a national hero and an elevated style.
- Elegiac poetry — Large sections are laments for the dead, including the songs of Shilric and Vinvela, Connal and Crimora, and Utha's farewell to the lovers, all written in a mournful, reflective voice on the theme of mortality and remembrance.
- Ossianic poetry — The work is a major example of the Ossianic corpus, with its characteristic bardic voice, cadenced rhythm, recurring formulas, Gaelic heroic names and Highland landscape of mist, hills and streams.
- Pre-Romantic poetry — Its focus on the sublime power of nature, melancholy, the cult of feeling and the nostalgic recovery of a remote past anticipates the sensibility of Romantic literature in Britain and Europe.
Tags
Ossian poetry · Gaelic legend · Scottish epic poetry · Fingal · Inistore · Sora · Morven · siege · single combat · spirit of Loda · supernatural encounter · heroic feast
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Carric-Thura is listed on Textopian as a poem by James Macpherson, dated 1765 CE.
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- Work type: Poem
- Author: James Macpherson
- Date: 1765 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Epic poetry, Elegiac poetry, Ossianic poetry, Pre-Romantic poetry, Literary pseudotranslation
- Length: 5,000 words
- Structure: 1 section, 56 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Very Easy (5th Grade or below)
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