J. F. Campbell Collection > Poems of Ossian > Volume 3

AUTHENTICITr OF OSSIAN's POEMS. 473
and as himself believed, some of the poems of
Ossian.
The late Mr. Alexander Morison, formerly captain
in a provincial corps of loyalists in America, in an-
swer to queries transmitted to him by the Committee
of tlie Highland Society, respecting Ossian's and
other ancient poems,* declares, that before leaving
Sky, even from the first of his recoUection, he heard
repeated, and learnt many poems and songs respect-
ing Fingal, Ossian, and other ancient heroes, many
of \Vhich were afterwards coUected, arranged, and
translated by Mr. James Macpherson. f That he
gave the Rev. Mr. Mackinnon, of Glendarual, be-
fore he went last time to America, in the year 1780,
Ossian's Address to the Sun in the original, which
being transmitted l)y Lord Bannatyne to the Society,
and presented, he identified. That he found the ad-
dress among Mr. James Macpherson's papers, when
he was transcribing fairly for him, from those original
papers (either collected by himself, or transmitted
by his Highland friends,) as it stood in the poem of
Cartlion, and afterwards translated and published.
As this part of Mr. Morison's evidence tends to
throw light on the deficiency of some of the ori-
ginal passages of Carthon, more especially the want
of the Address to the Sun in the originals now
printed, it may be proper to observe, that the Com-
mittee appointed to superintend this publication was
• See Appendix to Report of the Highland Society, p. 175,
t Mr. INIorison died at Greenocit, Feb. 1805, at the age of 84, or
85 ; and his answer to the queries of the Highland Society of Edin-
burgh bears date 7th January, 1801.