Ossian Collection > Celtic Mss. in relation to the Macpherson Fraud

about the middle of the hist century. "Regarding
the history of the great majority of these docu-
ments," it is said "we are ignorant" — certainly
at least, I am, most profoundly. It appears
however, that "The Rev. Mr. Grallie saw in
Macpherson's possession" 'several volumes,
small octavos, or rather large duodecimo in the
G-aelic language and characters ' ! Scarcely less
authentic is the fact that Lachlan Macviurich
" remembers well that Clanranald made his
fathergiveupthe^er/^oo^ to James Macpherson,"
and that Macpherson himself deposited certain
MSS. with his publishers Messrs. Beckett and
Dehondt which for a whole year remained in the
custody of that firm. These manuscripts men-
tioned by Mr. Mackinnon were prolmbly the
G-aelic leases of Macleod of Rasay referred to
by me in Celticism a Myth. The fact that
Macpherson so prostituted his talents, and
character for integrity was stated to me many
years ago by an aged clergyman of the Churcli
of Scotland, who vouched for his statement on
the faith of his friend George Dempster of
Dunichen, who was cognizant of the circumstance.
Father Farquharson, it is alleged, made a
collection of Gaelic MSS. before 1745, the last
leaves of which were used to kindle a stove fire