Ossian Collection > Defence of the Scots Highlanders, in general; and some learned characters, in particular

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the living language of an ancient people, that
plainly indicate rheir having had an exift-
ence. Yet the many able and learned gentle-
men, v^ho from age to age have laboured
to do honour to their country, have unfor-
tunately been ftrangers to the language, and
refted fecure upon the authorities handed
down by the old Greeks and Romans, as
to infallible lidn.^ards of appeal, t]>Qugh it is
beyond a doubt that their own knowledge
of the fubjett was but extremely imperfect,
and their information from fecond-hand be-
hoved to be limited, or at beft but mifin-
formed authority. — This affertion is mani-
feft from their very inaccurate account of
the geography of North Britain, as well as
from the forced garb in which the Gaelic
terms adopted by thefe ftrangers appear in
print, when compared with their original
manufcrlpts. Their looks and founds are
{o extremely foreign and antiquated, that
even a knowing accurate judge of the
Celtic requires great exertions of his fkill
to ilrip them of their exotic ma&s, in order
to make them intelligible. This is particu-
larly