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

BY MR. .HILL. 110
'' possession of Fingal and his Heroes ? I prefei' them to
" thy God, and thee, O Patrick Itf So Purchas rel-ates*,
that, when the Spaniards attempted to convert the in-
habitants of the Philippine Isles to Christianity ; the
islanders replied, that they would rather be in hell with
their forefathers, than in heaven with the Spaniards.
According to M'Nab, Fingal seems to have been the
Odin of the Scots : for he said, they had no religion, prior
to Christianity, bnt the reverence of Fingal and his race.
This account agrees with the entire xlcficiency of religious
ideas, in the Ossian of Macpherson and Smith ; and with
the opinions and prejudices expressed in the following-
Poem.
The Urnigh Ossian evidently appears, even through the
medium of the following rude translation^ to be superior in
poetic merit to any of the Songs which accompany it. I
am very sorry the translation is not entire. The first twen-
ty-one verses, and the last verse, or thirty-sixth, were trans-
lated for me at Oban in Argyleshire, by a schoolmaster
there ; wlio was procured by Mr. Hugh Stephenson, inn-
keeper at Oban. The remainder of the translation was
sent me from Edinbitrgh, in consequence of Dr. Willan's
application.
URNIGH OSSIAN.
1. v. 1.
AlTHRis sgeula Phadmig Relate the tale of Patrick,
An onair do Lcibhigh in honour of j-our ancestors. —
• Bheii neamh gu harrid " Is heaven on high in ike pos-
.'iig Uaisliamh na Feinne. session oftlc heroes of Fingal?
* PUgrimage Asia Ch. .l6.
K 4
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