m 



thing that can be considered satisfactory, regarding the antiquity or 

 genuineness of the poems in question. We shall, therefore, not enter 

 into a particular examination of this summary, but refer our readers 

 to what we have already said on the evidence produced. There are, 

 however, some things in the summary that are not contained in the 

 Report, and these we shall take the liberty to examine with as much 

 conciseness, and, at the same, with as much fairness as possible. 



To shew that Ossian was an ancient Scottish bard, and that the 

 poems pubhshed under his name by Mr. Macpherson, and by the 

 Highland Society, were the genuine compositions of that bard, Doctor 

 Mc Arthur thinks it necessary to shew that " the Gaelic has been a 

 written language in the Highlands of Scotland, and iii parts of Ire- 

 land, from a very remote period." The learned Doctor might have 

 saved himself the trouble of proving this fact so far as Ireland is 

 concerned ; for it has never been denied that, not only in parts, but 

 in all Ireland, the Gaelic, and other languages were written when 

 other nations were unacquainted with letters. The case, however, is 

 different with regard to Scotland, and we submit that the proofs 

 adduced by the Doctor are not quite satisfactory, and are unsup- 

 ported by facts. The first proof requires confirmation by some better 

 authority than Smith's History of the Druids, which he cites, before 

 it can be received. He says, " the Druids who spoke the Gaelic 

 language, founded a College in lona, afterwards called I colm-kill, 

 where they lived and taught unmolested, until they were dispossessed 

 by Saint Columba, in the sixth age. For several ages after that 

 period, lona was one of the most famous seats of learning of which 

 this or any of the neighbouring kingdoms could boast, and the lan- 

 guage in which almost all their learning was written was the Gaelic." 

 To this the Doctor adds a note, wherein he says, " The original name 

 of Icolmkill, prior to Columba's settling there was Hj/. During 



VOL. XVI. Q Q 



