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The Highlanders of Scotland - Clan Strachan Society

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134 THE HIGHLANDERS [part i<br />

hyperbole, was increased in them b}' the pecuh'ar and imaginative<br />

nature <strong>of</strong> their character, by their secluded situation,<br />

and the romantic aspect <strong>of</strong> their country ; and thus poetry<br />

was from the earliest period almost the only medium b}'<br />

which a knowledge <strong>of</strong> the great events <strong>of</strong> their early history,<br />

the achievements <strong>of</strong> their forefathers, and the illustrious<br />

examples presented for their emulation was conveyed to the<br />

<strong>Highlanders</strong>, and the warlike and somewhat chivalrous character<br />

<strong>of</strong> the nation preserved.<br />

Of this species <strong>of</strong> historical poetry, a very ancient and<br />

remarkable specimen has been preserved to us in the Albanic<br />

Duan, a poem, written in the eleventh century, and containing<br />

the earliest traditions <strong>of</strong> the origin <strong>of</strong> the nation before the<br />

fables <strong>of</strong> the Scottish monks had full sway in the country ;<br />

but, by a fate altogether singular in the case <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Highlanders</strong>,<br />

a complete body <strong>of</strong> these ancient versified histories<br />

have been handed down in the poems <strong>of</strong> Ossian. It is not<br />

Historical<br />

system <strong>of</strong><br />

m\- intention here to enter into the much disputed<br />

question <strong>of</strong> the authenticity <strong>of</strong> these poems, taken<br />

as a whole ; public opinion has long been made up<br />

as to their literary merit, and no pro<strong>of</strong> <strong>of</strong> their authenticit}'<br />

which could be adduced could make<br />

opinion. When considered as a poet,<br />

any alteration in that<br />

it only remains for the<br />

individual admirers <strong>of</strong> Ossian to examine the claims <strong>of</strong> his<br />

works to be considered as the productions <strong>of</strong> a remote age ;<br />

but when looked upon as an historian,<br />

it becomes a matter<br />

<strong>of</strong> great and general importance that the question <strong>of</strong> their<br />

authenticity should be set at rest. It is now universally<br />

admitted that the ground-work <strong>of</strong> these poems is ancient,<br />

while it is generally held thar upon that foundation a modern<br />

superstructure has been raised ; with that question we have<br />

here nothing to do, but the point to be determined is, whether<br />

the historical system contained in the poems <strong>of</strong> Ossian is a<br />

part <strong>of</strong> that ancient ground-work, and an actual record <strong>of</strong> the<br />

events <strong>of</strong> remote ages, handed down through a long course <strong>of</strong><br />

centuries, or whether it is the invention <strong>of</strong> a modern and<br />

ignorant antiquary. It has long been adduced, as a great<br />

objection to the authenticity <strong>of</strong> these poems, that the system<br />

<strong>of</strong> history contained in them is untrue, and that it is diamet-

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