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

62 REPORT ON THr
jiiad an Tore iiimhe* the Death of Dermid ; * Mar
Mharhhadh Bran* the Death of Bran ; and * Urnigh
Ossìan^ Offian's Prayer ; of which, having procur-
ed tranflations from a gentleman in the neighbour-
hood, Mr Hill pubUfbed tliefe tranflations, with th"e
originaj
Inftead of
* I can hardly believe tliy tale, thou clerk with thy white booi,
that Fingal, or any fo generous as he, ftiould be in captivity ei-
ther to God or man.' On which Mr Hill inquires, in a note,
* Why was light hair efteemed an opprobrium ? the Erfe them-
felves are a red-haired race.*
In page 25. ftanza 26,
* Nois tha deireadh air tois
Scuir do d' chaois afhean f hirle,*
is rendered in Mr Hill's pamphlet,
' Now the laft things are become firll ; change thou therefore
thy ^ays, old man with the grey locks.* Now there is no fuch
word in the Gaelic as chaois ; the couplet fhould be written thus,
as in other copies of the poem i
' Nois tha deire ar taois
Scuir dod bhaois a fliean fhir leith.*
' Now that thy age is at a clofe, ceafe from thy vanity, grey old
man.' But upon the foregoing miftake of the tranfcriber, and
want of knowledge in the tranflator, Mr Hill founds a charge of
plagiarifm from the fcriptural paffage in St Matthew, chap. 20.
verfe 16. 'So the laft fhall be fhft, and the firft laft ; for many
are called, but few chofen.'