An Original Collection of the Poems of Ossian, Orrann, Ulin, and Other

mmt^ \ .30 ^41(^^4^^ I. ol OC'V'tuO fviM^ IaaJI'^S /mu.O^civ- ItcchecUCui, C^'V^ciûu ^/Ilo î^û/ 4W<; Wt ^t^C^ Jf^ [W^JLWtKA c^ CjnûCiJi tri/xf)^ Ciyi>^^ CA^(A^ ^^" l^/Ji^^^JL. Irk. /UuJL . TWw- c/?Z^ ?iJI7 A-^c*^ yi^lU. ^'^ C/iiuyu^ GÂMA^f\M^ yJ\f\MMA/^ InJieuti J^tT^Tl^JU^ C)nc(A\.p%2=k ^^^^^^^ A^^^ /^^^^^ yi^ UvyUSi^ ,at ["hoy, Ci/^yul Qcc/iAî'ey. ftul^k hJiruo^/iil!;^ AH ORIGINAL COLLECTION OF THB POEMS OF OSSIAN, OMIRANN, IJJLIN, WHO FLOURISHED ZN THE SAME AGE. COLLECTEB ANO EDITED BY HUGH AND JOHN M'CALLUM. MONTROSE: PrfiiteD at tê ISeiJieto Behjjspapet; <£^cc, FOR THE EDITORS, By James Watt, Bookaeller. I8iej. DEDICATED (bY PERMISSION), TO THE JDUKE OF YORK, PRESIDENT, AND THE OTHER NOBLE AND ILLUSTRIOUS MEMBERS OF THE HIGHLAND SOCIETY OP PREFACE. After the Editors devoted much of their time in compiling materials for an additional collection of Ossian's poems, and in comparing different editions collected from oral recitation; having also perused the controversy, ^vritten by men of highly respectable abilities, establisliing the authenticity of the poems of Ossian ; also, upon the other hand, considered what has been stated a- gainst the authenticity of these poems, by a few whose abilities are well known in other matters, though they have failed in this vain and frivolous attempt. Having contemplated both sides of the question, and weighed the balance with reason and justice; the Editors consulted with some of the first characters in the nation about the matter, who, after serious consideration, have granted their approbation for publishing the following sheets, and favoured the Editors, not only with vi PREFACE. their wise and friendly instructions, but also with their liberal subscriptions and support to defray the expence of printing-. This work is much indebted to the royal family, nobility, ladies, and gentry of Britain at large, particularly to the right reverend bishops and clergy of every denomination, and to the respectable subscribers of every rank ; the work is under double obligation to the benevolence of the people of England and lowlands of Scotland, al- though unacquainted with the original of these poems, who did not hesitate to give their generous assistance to prevent so ancient a monument of genius from being lost; and the Editors most respectfully and unfeignedly thank the public, for the more than ordinary encouragement given them for executing this work; the number of the subscribers does them honour : they can present to the public a considerable number of the first names in the nation; as more have come to their hands than have appeared before the works of authors of established reputation, which the list of subscribers annexed to the work will testify. The novelty of cadence, in what is called prose version, though not destitute of harmony, will not to common readers supply the absence of the fre- quent returns of rhyme. It is, however, doubtful whether the harmony which poems might derive from rhyme, even in much better hands than that of the Editors, would atone for the simplicity and PREFACE. vii energy which they would lose. The detcrraina- tion of this point shall be left to our readers. The language and the structure of these poems, like every other thing about them, bear the most striking characters of antiquity. The language is bold, animated, and metaphorical; such as it is found to be in all infant states, where the words, as well as the ideas and objects, must be few; and where the language, like the imagination, is strong and undisciplined. No abstract, and few general, terms occur in the poems of Os- sian : of conrse the conversation is figurative and poetical ; adorned with such tropes of rhetoric as a modern would scarce venture to use in the boldest liights of language. This character, therefore, so conspicuous in the poems of Ossian, could be impressed so deeply on them only by one who saw, and felt, and bore a part in the scenes he is describing. A poet, in his closet, could no more compose like Ossian, than he could act like him in the field or in the mountain. The composition also, though it is, like the language, bold, nervous, and concise, is yet plain and artless ; without any thing of that modern refinement, or elaborate decoration, which waits on the advancement of literature. No foreign ornament is hunted after. The poet is always content with those which his subject naturally suggests, or which lie within his view; farther than that tract of heavens, earth, air, and sea. viii PREFACE. which lay, we may say, withm his study, he rarely makes any excursion. The wild and grand nature with which he was familiar, and his own vast genius, were the only resources to which he cared to be indebted for his ornaments. The love of novelty, which, in some degree, is common to all mankind, is more particularly the characteristic of that mediocrity of parts, which distinguishes more than the one half of the human species. This inconstant disposition is never more conspicuous, than in what regards the ar- ticle of amusement. We change our sentiments concerning it every moment, and the distance be- tween our admiration and extreme contempt, is so very small, that the one is almost a sure presage of the other. The poets, whose business it is to please, must very often forfeit their own judg- ment to this variable temper of the bulk of their readers, and accommodate their writings to this tmsettled taste. A fame so fluctuating deserves not to be much valued. Ossian is perhaps the only poet who never re- laxes, or lets himself down into the light and amusing strain; which I readily admit to be no small disadvantage to him with the bulk of readers. He moves perpetually in the region of the grand and the pathetic. Assuming it then, as we well may, that the poems now under consideration are genuine, venerable monuments of very remote antiquity, we proceed to make some re- PREFACE. jx marks upon their general spirit and strain. The two great characteristics of Ossian's poetry, are tenderness and sul)limity: it breathes nothing of the gay and cheerful kind; an air of solemnity and seriousness is difTuscd over the whole. One key-note is struck at the beginning, and support- ed to the end : nor is any ornament introduced, but what is generally concordant with the usual tone of melody. The events recorded are all serious and grave; the scenery throughout wild and romantic. Tlie extended heath by the sea- shore ; the mountain shaded with mist ; the tor- rent riisliing through a solitary valley; the scat- tered oaks ; and the tombs of warriors overgrown with moss—all produce a solemn attention in the mind, and prepare it for great and extraordinary events. We tind not in Ossian an imagination that sports and dresses its gay trifles to please the fancy; his poetry, more perhaps than that of any other writer, deserves to be styled the poetry of the heart. It is a heart penetrated with noble sentiments, and with sublime and tender pas- sions; a heart that glows and kindles the fancy; a heart that is full, and pours itself forth. Osjsian did not write like modern poets— to please readers and critics. He sung from the love of poetry and song; his delight was to think of the heroes amongst whom he had flourished ; to recall the affecting incidents of his life ; to dwell upon his past wars, and love, and friendship, till, as he ex- ; X FtiEFACt. presses it himself, " there comes a voice to Ossian, and awakes his soul. It is the voice of years that are gone ; they roll before me with all their deeds:" and under this true poetic inspiration, giving vent to his genius, no wonder we should so often hear and acknowledge, in his strains, the powerful and ever pleasing voice of nature. It is necessary here to observe, that the beauties- of Ossian's writings cannot be felt by those who have given them only a single or a hasty perusal. His manner is so different from that of the poeta to whom we are accustomed ; his style is so concise and so much crowded with imagery; the mind is kept at such a stretch in accompanying the author, that an ordinary reader is at first apt to be dazzled and fatigued rather than pleased. His poems require to be taken up at intervals, and to be frequently reviewed, and then it is impossible but his beauties must open to every reader who is capable of sensi!)ility. Those who have the highest degree of it, will relish them the most. In every age, there has been a neglect of living authors: it often happens, that the man who writes, differs greatly from the same man in common life; his foibles, however, are obliterated by death, and his better parts, his writings, remain his character is formed from them, and he, that was no extraordinary man in his own time, be- comes the wonder of succeeding ages. From this PREFACE. xi ?ource, proceeds our veneration for the dead. Their virtues remain, but the vices, -which were once blended with their virtues, have died with themselves. Sublimity, as belonging to sentiment, coincides, in a great measure, with magnanimity, heroism, and generosity of sentiment. Whatever discovers human nature in its greatest elevation; whatever bespeaks a hi^h effort of soul, or shows a mind superior to pleasures, to dangers, and to death, forms what may be called the moral or sentimen- tal sublime, for which Ossian is eminently distin- guished.

Load more