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

44 REPORT ON THfi
Dear Sir, Kincardine, 4ith March 1801.
I have, as far as my judgment and
recolledion ferved me, made a communication to
the Highland Society concerning Ossian*s poe?ns. A
certain conjedure of mine I venture to bring under
your view and Mr Charles M'Intofh's, to be difpof-
ed of as your judgment will dire£t. I remember
Mr Macpherfon reading the MSS. found in Clan-
ronald's, execrating the bard who dictated to the
amanuenfis, faying, * D n the fcoundrel, it is
he himfelf that now fpeaks, and not OfTian.* This
took place in my houfe, in two or three inflances :
I thence conje£ture that the MSS. were kept up, left
they Ihould fall under the view of fuch as would be
more ready to publifh their deformities than to point
out their beauties.
It was, and I believe ftill is well known, that the
broken poems of Oflian, handed down from one
generation to another, got corrupted. In the ftate
of the Highlands, and its language, this evil, I ap-
prehend, could not be avoided ; and I think great
credit is due, in fuch a cafe^ to him who reftores a
work of merit to its original purity.
Befides the perfons already mentioned, the only
other gentleman particularly acquainted with Mr
Macpherfon's proceedings, in the courfe of his col-
1 leding