216 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. [YOL. I. 



OSSIANIC POETRY. 



By David Spence, Esq. 



{Read 2gtJi March, i8go.) 



When we speak of Ossianic poetry, it is quite natural to think of the 

 poems published in England in 1762 by James Macpherson, as transla- 

 tions of the poems of Ossian, the publication of which caused such wonder 

 and amazement in the world of letters that they are more or less known to 

 all who take any interest in literature. They were translated almost imme- 

 diately into all the principal languages of Europe, and admired by the 

 greatest literary characters, by Goethe and Schiller among others. The 

 great Napoleon was in the habit of carrying a copy in his pocket during 

 his military campaigns. In Britain they met with a mixed reception ; 

 accepted as genuine, and placed on a level with the great works of anti- 

 quity by such eminent critics as Hugh Blair, they were, on the other 

 hand, assailed by Dr. Johnson and others as impudent forgeries. The 

 doctor declared that there was no Gaelic manuscript in the world one 

 hundred years old. The passions and prejudices called into existence 

 by the rising of '45 contributed fuel to the fire of controversy ; the voice 

 of calm reason was drowned in the shouts of the combatants. It is 

 generally assumed in our day that the genuineness of the poems of Ossian 

 has been successfully assailed, and that the controversy has been closed 

 with a verdict against Macpherson. This is by no means the case. 

 There are men of equal eminence in Britain and on the Continent of 

 Europe to be found on opposite sides of the question. There is hardly a 

 critic in our day, even among the opponents of Macpherson, who regards 

 him as the sole author of the poems ; the question being how far he 

 tampered with and changed the materials which came into his possession. 

 These questions I purpose in the course of this paper to discuss. It is 

 generally taken for granted also that Ossianic poetry is exhausted by the 

 publication of Macpherson's Ossian and the " Seann Dana " of the Rev. 

 Dr. John Smith, of Campbelltown. This also is a mistake. From Sir 

 James McGregor, Dean of Lismore, in: 5 12, to John F. Campbell in 1872, 

 there were at least twenty-six collectors of Gaelic Ossianic poetry, exclu- 

 sive of Macpherson and Smith. These twenty-six collected in all 54,169 

 lines ; Macpherson 10,332, and Rev. Mr. Smith 5,335. Macpherson, 

 therefore, collected only one-sixth of the whole. The poetry collected 



