Ossian Collection > Report of the Committee of the Highland Society of Scotland, appointed to inquire into the nature and authenticity of the poems of Ossian

9^ REPORT ON THE
with the original of that paflage, and a literal tranjT,
lation, is given by Dr Donald Smith, in the Appen-
dix, No. 1 9 ; to which is fubjoined, a fac s'wiile of
the writing of the MS. This paflage coincides very
nearly with three ftanzas of the edition of Clann Uis-
nech, as publifhed by Gillies, in his collection, p.
265.
But the largeft and mofl valuable collefìion of
manufcripts, In the pofleflion of the Society, was
prefented to it, on the application of this Committee,
by the Highland Society of London. One of thefe
belonged to the Reverend James M'Gregor, dean
of Lifmore, the metropolitan church of the fee of
Argyll, as afcertained by an infcription on the MS.
itfelf. It appears, from dates affixed to it, to have
been written at different periods, from 1512 to
1 529. It contains more than 1 1 ,000 verfes of Gae-
lic poetry, compofed at different periods, from the
time of our more ancient bards, down to the begin-
ning of the 1 6th century. Among the more an-
cient are poems of Conal, fon of Edirlkeol, Of-
fian, fon of Fingal, Fergus Fill (Fergus the Bard),
and Caoilt, fon of Ronan, the friends and cotem-
poraries of OfTian. Of the modern poets, whofe
works are here preferred, the mofl illuftrious are
Sir Duncan Campbell of Glenurchay, who fell in
the battle of Flodden, and Lady Ifabel Campbell,
daughter of the Earl of Argyle, afterwards married
to Gilbert Earl of Caflilis. Of this collection alio,
Dr D. Smith has furnifhed the Committee with an
account, which the Society will find in the above
mentioned