Ossian Collection > Macdonald bards from mediaeval times

tional form, and as those who cherished their
remenihrance were changing in their circum-
stances, little could be transmitted word for
word at the end of a period of nearly 2000 years
exactly as it had been originally recited or sung.
Another singular circumstance is that there is
no allusion in the whole poems to the voice of
singing birds, which must have been as tuneful in
days of old as they are now. There is mention of
the " hum of the mountain-bee," and the "dron-
ing dance of the evening fly," " The birds of night
are startled by the loud sound of Fingal's
siiield,* and the flight of the sea birds is noticed,
but no reference is made to any bird of song.
The eagle is the only bird specially mentioned,
and of all the dwellers of the waters the whale
alone is mentioned. Modern Gaelic poetry
abounds in descriptions of singing birds, as well as
of the salmon— " the monarch of the flood."t
These omissions are unaccountable, unless on the
supposition that men's minds in these eai'ly times
were occupied entirely with war and the chase.
I was born and bred in Skye, spoke Gaelic as
soon as, if not before, P^nglisli. I knew all about
tlie people as well as one of themselves. I have
listened hundreds of times to their stories, songs,
and recitations of some of Ossian's poems, by in-
dividuals who knew little or no English, and who
believed they were handed down from remote
ages, a belief in which I heartily concur against
all that has been said by scholars in the past, or
that can be said at the present day, or in the
future, and I further believe that outsiders, + and
especially foreigners are utterly unfit to dog-
matise on the subject or to settle the question. §
Whether poetry preceded jirose or not, we
can't say with certainty, but the ethics of
* Reminding one of the African savages sounding
the " great nogara " (drum), a practice which must
have existed for thousands of years.
t Dr. Clerk's Ossian.
{ I am aware that a few insiders also follow the
German school of critics, but tliey will always be in a
minority as men who are incapable of sifting circum-
stantial evidence.
§ Note.— Captain Alexander Morrison of Skinnidin,
Skye, who copied out a lot from Gaelic MSS. for
James MacPherson, as he could neither write nor
spell the language properly, declared that he could no
more compose the Ossianic poems, or anything like
them, than he could have written the prophecies of
Isaiah, or created the Isle of Skye : Life and Letters
of James MacPherson, by Bailie Saunders.
poetry were delivered and orally preserved in
pithy rhymes, and in this way the earlier decrees
of Greece were promulgated, and remained for
ages ere they were engraven on tablets in the
public ways, and even then the metric form was
not abandoned, nor did the jjeople find another
word for law than verse.* Though the attach-
ment to oral record was strong, the predilection
for rhyme was still stronger, even after writing
had come into use.
The Ikehons, or Gaelic judges, delivered their
decrees in sententious poetry, and St. Columba,
who is himself believed to have been of the bardic
order, and other early ecclesiastics, delivered
their moral precepts in impressive verse, t
It was in this style of composition that the
Gaelic genealogies of the Scottish Kings, repeated
by the seanachies, were formed. In Wales many
moral triplets are confidently ascribed to the
Druids, and in the Highlands many suchapothegms,
handed down from the sean' ir, or men of
antiquity, are of similar origin. The Druids, like
the Pythagoreans, were most careful to exercise
the memory, and it was a positive law that there
should be no written record ; so it is probable
that it was after the time of the Druids so much
of the early poetry was lost.
The Gael frequently met for the purpose of
friendly contest in the repetition and singing of
their ancient poems, and poetic talent was one of
the most respected accomplishments. J
Dr Johnson describes a Highland amusement
indicative of the poetic spirit, Avhere a person
enveloped in a skin enters the house, when, the
company attecting to be frightened, rush forth ;
the door is then closed, and before they are
admitted, for the honour of poetry, each must
repeat at least one verse. The young men who
celebrate the festival of " Calluinn," bringing in
the New Year, are obliged to recite an extempore
rhyme before they are admitted to any house.
In the writer's younger days he has more than
once seen a similar practice. On Hogmanay
night, " Oidhche Callaig," all the men about the
place collected, and having fastened a dried cow's
or sheep's hide on the back of one man, he ran
* Wood on The Genius of Homer.
t Dr MacPherson's Dissertations.
I MacKenzie's Introduction to the Beauties of Gaelic
Poetry.