260 



" Before almanacs got into general circulation, it was not 

 an uncommon thing to find persons in Ireland able to repeat 

 the whole of this long poem by heart ; and in all disputes re- 

 lative to times and seasons, its authority was appealed to as 

 decisive. 



" The rest of the volume consists of medical tracts on 

 paper. 



" It was impossible for me, in the short time which I 

 could spare for the work, to institute a more careful exami- 

 nation of these manuscripts. Still I deeply regret my having 

 brought back so little knowledge of the contents of the Glen 

 Masan manuscript, marked III. in this list. Having spent 

 two days over No. I., I was obliged to content myself with 

 a more cursory inspection of the rest. I came away, how- 

 ever, consoling myself with the prospect of seeing these manu- 

 scripts again ; for I entertain a confident hope that, if an appli- 

 cation were made by the Royal Irish Academy to the Highland 

 Society of Scotland, requesting the loan of these manuscripts, it 

 would meet with favourable consideration. The controversies 

 concerning the Ossianic poems having terminated, any jea- 

 lousies which once existed between the antiquaries of the two 

 countries have died away ; and no feeling actuates them but a 

 desire to co-operate in the work of illustrating the closely 

 related histories of the two countries. An opportunity of 

 comparing the Edinburgh manuscripts with those which are 

 preserved in our libraries here, would be attended with great 

 advantages. We might thus copy what was unique, complete 

 what was imperfect, and explain many things that are now un- 

 intelligible, by reference to more ancient and accurate texts." 



It was resolved, — That the Council be requested to take 

 steps to ask for a loan of the MSS. described by Mr. Graves. 



