The Poems of Ossian

^ A •TOAKLEY. CAM 'f©iemS^o'F0^ sham. 40- ^^ IXtbUshd by JjyaiJcer.ratfmaj-cerRon-.fUidJ.Ilnjy jyj'twlr ChurcJiTard. 1807. THE POEMS OF OSSIAK POEMS OF OSSIAN, TRANSLATED BY JAMES MACPHERSON, ESQ. To which are prefixed. A PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE, AND DISSERTATIONS ON THE JERA AND POEMS OF OSSIAN. Pi in ted by ELLERTON and BYWORTH, Johnson's Court, Fleet Street, For J.Walker; W.J. and J.Richardson; R. Faulder and Son; J. Johnton; F. C. and J. Rivingtcn; Vernor, Hood, and Shaipe; R.Lea; J. Nunn; Cuthell and Martin ; Lacking- ton, Alien, and Co.: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme; Cadell and Davies; Wilkie and Robinson; J. Murray; J. Booker E. ; Jeffery ; Black, Parry, and Kingsbury ; H. D. Symonrts; J. Asperne; and J. Harris. 1807. CONTENTS. A Preliminary Discourse Page v Preface 1 A Dissertation concerning the Mra. of Ossian . 7 A Dissertation concerninc: the Poems of Ossian . 19 Dr. Blair's Critical Dissertation on the Poems of Ossian 47 Cath-loda, in three Duans 139 Comala 159 Carric-thura l65 Carthon 179 Oina-morul 193 Colna-dona 199 Oithona 2(>5 Croma 213 Calthon and Colmal 219 The War of Caros 227 Cathlin of Clutha '. .235 Sul-malla of Lumon 243 The War of Inis-thona 249 The Songs of Selma 257 Fingal, in six Books 267 Lathmon 339 Dar-thula 351 The Death of Cuthullin 365 The Battle of Lora 375 Temora, in eight Books 385 Conlath and Cuthona 473 Berrathon 479 A PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. As Swift has, with some reason, affirmed that ail sublunary happiness consists in being well de- ceived, it may possibly be the creed of many, that it had been wise, if, after Dr. Blair's ingenious and ele- gant Dissertation on '• the venerable Ossian," a!! doubts respecting what we have been taught to call his works had for ever ceased; since there appears cause to believe, that numbers who listened with de light to " the voice of Cona," would have been hap- py, if, seeing their own good, they had been content with these Poems accompanied by Dr. Blair's judg- ment, and sought to know no more. There are men, however, whose ardent love of truth rises on all oc- casions paramount to every other consideration; and though the first step in search of it should dissolve the charm, and turn a fruitful Eden into a barren wild, they would pursue it. For these, and for the idly curious in literary problems, added to the wish of making this new edition of "The Poems of Ossian" as well informed as the hour would allow, we have here thought it proper to insert some account of a re- newal of the controversy relating to the genuineness of this rich treasure of poetical excpllence. Nearly half a century lias elapsed since the publication of the poems ascribed by Mr. Macpherson to Ossian, which poems he then professed to have col- lected in the original Gaelic during a tour through the Western Highlands and Isles; but a doubt of their authenticity nevertheless obtained, and from their first appearance to this day has continued in viii A PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE, various degrees to agitate the literary world. In the present year, " A Report •," springing from an in- quiry instituted for the purpose of leaving, with regard to this matter, «' no hinge nor loop to hang a doubt on," has been laid before the public. As the Committee, in this investigation, followed, in a great measure, that line of conduct chalked out by David Hume to Dr. Blair, we shall, previously to stating their precise mode of proceeding, make several large and interesting extracts from the historian's two letters on this subject. " I live in a place," he writes, " where I have the pleasure of frequently hearing justice done to your dissertation, but never heard it mentioned in a com> pany, where some one person or other did not express his doubts with regard to the authenticity of the poems which are its subject, and I often hear them totally rejected with disdain and indignation, as a palpable and most impudent forgery. This opinion has, indeed, become very prevalent among the men of letters in London ; and I can foresee, that in a few years the poems, if they continue to stand on their present footing, will be thrown aside, and will fall into final oblivion. " The absurd pride and caprice of Macpherson him- self, who scorns, as he pretends, to satisfy any body, that doubts his veracity, has tended much to confirm this general scepticism ; and I must own, for my part, that though I have had many particular reasons to believe these poems genuine, more than it is possible for any Englishman of letters to have, yet I am not entirely without my scruples on that head. You think, that the internal proofs in favour of the poems are very convincing : so they are ; but there are also internal reasons against them, particularly from the • " A Report of the Committee of the Highland Society of Scotland, appointed to enquire into the nature and authenticity of the Poems of Ossian. Drawn up, according to the directions of the Committee, hy Henry MackeoEie, Esq. its convener or chairman. With a copious Appendix, con- taining some of the principal documents on which the Re- port is founded. Edinburgh, 1805." 8vo. Pages 343. : A PftfiLTMlNARY DISCOURSE. ix manners, notwithstanding all the art with which you have endeavoured to throw a vernish • on that circum- stance ; and the preservation of such long and such connected poems, by oral tradition alone, during a course of fourteen centuries, is so much out of the ordinary course of human affairs, that it requires the strongest reasons to make us believe it. My present purpose, therefore, is to apply to you, in the name of all the men of letters of this, and I may say, of all other countries, to establish this capital point, and to give us proofs that these poems are, 1 do not say, so ancient as the age of Severus, but that they were not forged within these five years by James Macpherson. These proofs must not be arguments, but testimonies people's ears are fortified against the former; the lat- ter may yet find their way, before the poems are con- signed to total oblivion. Now the testimonies may, in my opinion, be of two kinds. Macpherson pretends that there is an ancient manuscript of part of Fingal in the family, I think, of Clanronald. Get that fact ascertained by more than one person of credit; let these persons be acquainted with the Gaelic; let them compare the original and the translation; and let them testify the fidelity of the latcer. " But the chief point in which it will be necessary for you to exert yourself, will be, to get positive tes- timony from many different hands that such poems are vulgarly recited in the Highlands, and have there long been the entertainment of the people. Tliis tes- timony must be as particular as itis positive. It will not be sufficient that a Highland gentleman or cler- gyman say or write to you that he has heard such poems : nobody questions that tliere are traditional poems in that part of the country, where the names of Ossian and Fingal, and Oscar and Gaul, are mentioned in every stanza. The only doubt is, whether these poems have any farther resemblance to the poems published by Macpherson. I was told by Bourke*. a very ingenious Irish gentleman, the author of a tract on the sublime and beautiful, that on the first publication of Macpherson's book, all the Irish • So in MS, X A PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE, cried out, '* We know all those poems. We have al- ways heard them from our infancy." But when he asked more particular questions, he could never learn that any one had ever heard or could repeat the original of any one paragraph of the pretended translation. This generality, then, must be carefully guarded against, as being of no authority. " Your connections among your brethren of the clergy may be of great use to you. You may easily learn the names of all ministers of that country who understand the language of it. You may write to them, expressing the doubts that have arisen, and de- siring them to send for such of the bards as remain, and make them rehearse their ancient poems. Let the clergymen then have the translation in their bands, and let them write back to you, and inform you, that they heard such a one (naming him), living in such a place, rehearse the original of such a pas- sage, from such a page to such a page of the English translation, which appeared exact and faithful. If you give to the public a sufficient number of such testimonies you may prevail. But I venture to foretel to you, that nothing less will serve the purpose ; notliing less will so much as command the attention of the public. " Becket tells me, that he is to give us a new edition of your Dissertation, accompanied with some remarks on Temora. Here is a favourable oppor- tunity for you to execute this purpose. You have a just and laudable zeal for the credit of these poems. They are, if genuine, one of the greatest curiosities iu all respects that ever was discovered in the common- in a wealth of letters ; and the child is, manner, become yours by adoption, as Macpherson has totally abandoned all care of it.

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