tolerable acquaintance with the Irish language, must know that there 

 are a great many poetical compositions in it, and that they are tender, 

 simple, and sublime. The specimen which he published, was entitled 

 '■ Bas Fhraoich, or the Death of Fraoch, who was destroyed by the 

 treacherous passion of his Mother-in-law." The original, with two 

 translations, the one in loose paraphrastic rhymes, the other, close 

 and literal, may be seen in the Vllth No. of the Highland Report. 

 Neither in the poem nor in the letter, is any mention made of Fingal 

 or Ossian, 



" About the same time, Mr. Pope, minister of Reay, in Caithness, 

 well known for his abilities as a scholar, and his great knowledge of 

 the Gaelic language, had thoughts of making a collection of the an- 

 cient poetry of the Highlands, in concert with another gentleman,''* 

 whose death put an end to the scheme. They wrote some poems, 

 "said to be composed by Ossian," from oral tradition, " but could not, 

 from the best information, learn that there was any manuscript of 

 them in that part of the kingdom." On the publication of Macpher- 

 son's work, Mr. Pope recollected that he had heard some fragments of 

 Lathmon, and found that the Erragon of Temora is called Dibird fli, 

 and the poem which mentions the death of Oscar, Ca Gaur, in the 

 Gaelic of the Highlands. -f" - « n i 



n . In June 1760, Mr. James Macpherson published, at Edinburgh, 

 his " Fragments of Ancient Poetry, collected in the Highlands, and 

 translated from the Gaelic or Erse Language." These fragments were 

 fifteen in number, and formed the first specimen, of . the celebrated 

 poems attributed to Ossian. J -T' -') 



On the appearance of these poems, the literary world was asto- 

 nished. A new sun had blazed forth in the hemisphere, and all eyes 



* Report of the Highland Society, p. 25. f IfJ* -Appendix, 53. 



X Ritchie's Life of Hume, p. 137. 



