Ossian 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. ,119
M possession of Fingal and his Heroes ? I prefer them to
«"■ thy God, and thee, O Patrick!" So Purchas relates*,
that, when the Spaniards attempted to convert the in-
habitants of the Philippine Isles to Christianity ; the
islanders replied, that the}' 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, but the reverence of Fingal and his race.
This account agrees with the entire deficiency 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 ; who was procured by Mr. Hugh Stephenson, inn-
keeper at Oban. The remainder of the translation was
/.sent me from Edinburgh, in consequence of Dr. Willan's
application.
TJRNI&H OSSIAN.
1. v. 2.
Aitiiris sgeula Phadruig Relate the tale of Patrick,
An onair do Leibhigh iu honour of your ancestors <-
'Bheil neamh gu harrid " Is heaven on high in the pos-
Aig Uaisliamh na Feinne. session of the heroes of Fing: ].:
Pil^rini^ge ^sia Ch. i£.
K