in the
'seventies, but the question was finally disposed of in papers by
Alexander Macbain (1885) and L.C. Stern (1895). We can here only
summarize briefly the main lines of argument. (1) Macpherson's Ossian is
full of reminiscences of Homer, Milton and the Hebrew prophets. (2) He
confuses the Ulster and the Fenian heroic cycles in unpardonable
fashion. (3) The Gaelic text of 1807 only represents one-half of the
English versions (11 poems out of 22 poems). Some Gaelic fragments from
different pens appeared prior to 1807, but these differ considerably
from the "official" version. (4) In the Gaelic text of 1807 the version
of the passage from _Temora_ is quite different from that published in
1763. (5) Macpherson's Gaelic is full of offences against idiom and
unnaturally strained language. (6) The names Morven and Selma are
entirely of his own invention (see also MACPHERSON, JAMES). As a result
of the stir caused by Macpherson's work a number of men set about
collecting the genuine popular literature of the Highlands. A few years
before the appearance of _Fingal_, Jeremy Stone, a schoolmaster at
Dunkeld, had collected ten Ossianic ballads and published one of them in
an English versified translation. For this collection see a paper by D.
Mackinnon in the _Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness_, vol.
xiv. pp. 314 ff. Unfortunately other persons were led to follow
Macpherson's example. The chief of these imitators were (1) John Clark,
who in 1778 published, along with several others, an English poem
_Mordubh_, later translated into Gaelic by Gillies; (2) R. Macdonald,
son of Alexander Macdonald, who is the author of _The Wish of the Aged
Bard_; (3) John Smith of Campbeltown (d. 1807), author of fourteen
Ossianic poems styled _Seandana_, published in English in 1780 and in
Gaelic in 1787; (4) D. MacCallum of Arisaig, who in 1821 published
_Collath_ and a complete _Mordubh_ "by an ancient bard Fonar."

Later poets.

We have now reviewed in turn the greatest writers of the Scottish
Highlands. The men we have dealt with created a kind of tradition which
others have attempted to carry on. Ewen Maclachlan (1775-1822), the
first transcriber of the Dean's Book, was assistant librarian of King's
College and rector of the grammar school of Aberdeen. Amongst other
things he translated the greater part of seven books of Homer's _Iliad_
into Gaelic heroic verse, and he also had a large share in the
compilation of the Gae