TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH VERSE. BY THOMAS TRAVERS BURKE, ESQ. H. P. llth Light Dragoons. " Proceed in forceful sounds, and colour bold, " The native legends of thy land rehearse." COLLINS. LONDON: PUBLISHED BY LONGMAN, HURST, REES, OH ME, AND BROWN : CONSTABLE, AND CO. EDINBURGH; AXD RICHARD MILLIKEN, GRAFTON-STREET, DUBLIN. 1820. NOI/AN, Printer, 3, SufiUk-itreet, Dublin. TO LIEUTENANT GENERAL ROBERT STUART, THE FOLLOWING POEM IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED, BY HIS OBLIGED AND MOST DEVOTED SERVANT, THE AUTHOR. 2061946 PREFATORY DISCOURSE. IN an age like the present when the public mind appears ardently to thirst after works of taste and genius that so rich a collection of poetic treasure as the poems of Ossian, should be neglected, and even viewed with decided apathy by the generality of the British public, is indeed a circumstance which can- not fail to create surprise in every mind alive to the numerous, and unrivalled beauties of these inestimable remnants of Celtic poetry. If any proof could be re- quired of the little interest they excite, a most unequi- vocal one may be had, in the coldness and indifference with which the literary world received the report of the Highland Society's patriotic exertions, to rescue the venerable bard from the obloquy and contempt, that prejudice and scepticism had endeavoured to heap upon him. B VI PREFATORY DISCOURSE. With respect to the intrinsic merit of these poems, I fancy that they will, if brought to the bar of criticism, be found amply to possess all the qualities which can entitle a work to immortality, even were we to keep their claim to being genuine records of the transactions and manners of our ancestors altogether out of the ques- tion. In tenderness, in pathos, in sublimity, in just de- lineation of character, in display of the most interesting emotions of the human mind ; and above all, in being admirably calculated to inspire us with a disgust at vice, in whatever form it may present itself, and a love of virtue and heroism ; what poems can produce more brilliant specimens of excellence? Nor are they defi- cient in systematic arrangement ; nor in any thing that could tend to exalt the character of those whom the poet has chosen to celebrate : a proof of which will be had in the little piece now before us. It is true we are not amused with those monstrosities, which (from early prejudice in favour of the eminent authors, who, in compliance with the absurd notions of their times, were under the necessity of introducing them in their works) some have been led to consider almost as the ground- work of poetry. We have no Gods, with human pas- sions, becoming actors in the different scenes, and despoiling the heroes of almost every particle of that merit which they might otherwise have had in our PREFATORY DISCOURSE. Vll eyes, making them worse than puppets. No : Ossian knew the human heart too well to be ignorant, that every artificial aid afforded must proportionally dimi- nish our admiration of the individual: and therefore we do not find even a ghost called in to the assis- tance of his conflicting friends : although we perceive from some passages in the poems, that it was not un- usual in his day for others to invoke the vengeance of supernatural powers against their enemies.* And I would, by the way, call the reader's attention to the above mentioned circumstance, as affording no trifling testimony that the poems are of a remote an- tiquity. For it is well known that a kind of mania ex- isted, in favour of what is termed machinery in poetry, even down to the period in which Macpherson wrote ; and we must be aware how easy it would have been for a person of any ingenuity to introduce a ghostly agency, agreeable to the notions which then prevailed, and which are not yet extinct in the Highlands of Scot- land. Besides, if we go farther back, even for centu- ries previous to that period, we shall find almost every ballad interlarded with the terrible effects of ghosts, witches, incantations, and such like foolery. So that, in my opinion, consistency would lead us to refer these * See Suilnmlla of Lumon. Vlll PREFATORY DISCOURSE. poems to the aera to which they are assigned, in pre- ference to any other whatsoever. There can be no doubt that the strong prejudice which has existed, ever since their first publication, against the authenticity of these poems, must in a very great degree have damped the public zeal for them. But I imagine that even this circumstance could not long have kept them back from becoming general favourites, had they been given to the world in an inviting form. In this opinion I am confirmed, by the reception which they have met with on the continent, especially in Italy: There, as I am informed, they are even held in more estimation than the works of the immortal Homer ; although translated by the very same hand.* It is highly probable that Mr. Macpherson adopted the abrupt and unconnected style, which we find to pervade the greater part of his translation, from an idea that it would give it an air of genuineness, and help to obviate the objections which existing prejudices would be likely to urge against the originality of these poems, had they been put into a strain of elegance and ^eloquence, corresponding with the sentiments and the * CRSAROTTI has given a translation, in Italian verse, both of Homer, and Ossian : but the latter is far more admired than the former. PREFATORY DISCOURSE. IX talents which they develope. For no one can be igno- rant of the light in which the Highlanders were view- ed at the time when Macpherson published ; that they were looked upon, by the great majority of the British nation, as the descendants of a refractory and barba- rous race, living almost in a state of nature: and Macpherson could hardly have been blind to the diffi- culty of persuading those who held such an opinion, that any thing like regular and systematic poetry could have sprung up among the ancestors of this people ; although they would naturally expect in their compo- sitions much fire, blended with incoherence. There- fore he might have imagined, that the singularity of the style which he employed would tend to quiet such objections against the authenticity of the poems, arrest attention, and gain his translation a reading, even among those who were prejudiced against his country : who would exclaim, * this is just what we should expect from a powerful but uncultivated genius, pregnant with ideas, but struggling for words to ex- press himself, from the barrenness of his language.' In this opinion I am much strengthened by com- paring his translation of the poem of Fingal (which, if I mistake not, was the first that made its appearance,) with his Temora, or indeed with almost any other of the poems: in it we find a degree of finish, and care- X PREFATORY DISCOURSE. fullness in the phraseology, which few of the rest can boast of. And I fancy it was in consequence of his having witnessed the objection above alluded to, or, possibly, from its being hinted to him by some of his acquaintances, that he was induced to vary his method. Though it is not improbable that the impa- tient and capricious temper attributed to him,* might have hurried him into a slovenly execution, when he found that the public curiosity was likely to insure him a favourable reception. Thus, in all probability, self-interest, carelessness, and caprice, led him to introduce the anomaly, of an exquisitely tender and refined poet whose composi- tions display a most extensive experience, and a most Mr. David Hume, in a letter to Dr. Blair, thus speaks of Macpherson : " The absurd pride and caprice of Macpherson himself, who scorns, as he pretends, to satisfy any body that doubts his veracity, has tended much to confirm this general scepticism." Again, in a letter addressed to the same gentleman, dated 6th of October, 1763, Mr. Hume says, " I am glad that you have undertaken the task which I used the freedom to recommend to you, (to make enquiries in the Highlands, and bring some proof of the authenticity of the poems before the world.) Nothing less than what you propose will serve the purpose. You need expect no assistance from Macpherson, who flew into a passion when I told him of the letter I wrote to you. But you must not mind so strange and heteroclite a mortal, than whom I have scarce ever known a man more perverse and nnamiable. He will probably depart for Florida with Governor Johnstone : and I would advise him to travel among the Chickishaws or Cherokees, in order to tame and cirilize him." PREFATORY DISCOURSE. XI intimate acquaintance with the human heart whose impetuosity had been tempered by age, and in whom maturity of judgment must be supposed to have predo- minated, and to have given him a command and con- nexion of ideas often expressing himself with all the abruptness and irregularity of an impatient boy who spoke without reflection ! Fortunately lyir. Macpherson has furnished us with a proof that this was all his own doing not the style of the amiable Ossian. By publishing the original of the seventh C^nto of Temora, that very original from which he professes to have translated, he has enabled us to discover the difference between the diction of Ossian himself, and that of Ossian a la Macpherson. It is proper for me to inform the reader, that the can- to of Temora above mentioned was given as a specimen of the original Celtic poetry ; and a promise held out, that the originals of all the poems should be put to press, when a sufficient number of subscribers could be procured. Becket, a London bookseller who was in the habit of publishing for Mr. Macpherson, declared* that manuscripts of the Gaelic originals were even lodg- *See AN ESSAY ox THE AUTHENTICITY OF OSSIAN'S POEMS, by (he Rev. Dr. Graham : published in 180T. Towards the latter end of the volume n literal translation from the original is given. I have annexed several of Dr. Graham's notes, to my versification of the VII Canto of TEMOHA. Xll PREFATORY DISCOURSE. cd with him for the purpose of being published ; but that Macpherson withdrew them, assigning for reason, ' that a sufficient number of subscribers had not com,e forward to remunerate him.' I am mistaken, however, if there was not another, and a more weighty reason for the originals not making their appearance Some had taken the liberty to criti- cise Macpherson's translation, and to compare it with what of the Gaelic he had published : and from this I fancy, he took the alarm ; as he must have been conscious that he was not the best Celtic scholar in the world ;* and obviously had to expect, if he were to give the originals to the public, that some competitor might arise, perhaps better qualified than himself, and eclipse the translation which he had given. Thus should he be deprived of a rich source of emolument. But of this he could run no risk as long as he kept the originals in his own hands : for there was no great prospect that any one would undertake the toilsome task of col- lecting them as he had done. Every one who considers the circumstances in which Mr. Macpherson was placed, must acknowledge that it would have been an enormous sacrifice in him to have published the originals a sacrifice which could not * See Dr. Graham's Essay. PREFATORY DISCOURSE. Xlll have been expected from any but a most liberal and in- dependent person. But it certainly was incumbent on him, at least, to have made some provision that they should come into the hands of the public, after the copy-right of his translation expired. Perhaps what I have now mentioned may likewise furnish a clue to all that impatience and irrascibility, which Macpherson shewed, when called upon to give the public a satisfactory proof of the authenticity of the poems, or even when another person took any steps to investigate the subject. It may also account for his appearing indirectly to favour the suspicion of his being himself the original author:* as this was the surest way to stop all enquiry, in limine. I am not ignorant that individuals are to be found who look upon Macpherson's stile as most suitable to the subject. There are even some who are capable of pointing out his mistranslations, and palpable igno- rance of the Gaelic idiom, and yet appear to consider his mode as the best that could have been devised : although they assert that he has " in general failed :" It is likewise asserted that he was guilty of, what no person with the feelings of a gentleman could have brought himself to do, namely, some manuscripts of the originals which he had borrowed, under a promise of returning them, could never be got out of his hands. C XIV PREFATORY DISCOURSE. they mean, I suppose, failed to convey the force and beauty of the original, or the precise ideas of Ossian. It appears to me that this prejudice in favour of what they are pleased to call " the measured prose of Mac- pherson," (a prose, by the bye, which to my ear seems little short of a barbarous perversion of the English language,) arose from their not having investigated the actual cause of that pleasure which they received from a perusal of his translation, from their not having sufficiently discriminated between its general rugged- ness, and the brilliancy and effect of particular (perhaps I might venture to call them almost insulated) passages, which strongly arrested their attention: like the splen- did ruins of a once magnificent structure, amid their surrounding rubbish. I am free to confess that in some respects Mr. Mac- pherson has been very successful ; he has very happily rendered several of the simflies, and fine touches of Ossian. No reader of sensibility can remain unmoved while perusing numerous passages of his version. But then I am obliged to declare, that, I consider his nar- rative almost always unconnected and tiresome; the similies, and descriptions, sometimes ambiguously, feebly, and even unfaithfully given ; and his ex- pression frequently bombastic, and puerile in the ex- treme. Nor has he often preserved the genuine poetic PREFATORY DISCOURSE. XV language of Ossian. In short, " the voice of Cona" has been stript of its polished dignity, though some of its nerve has been retained. This opinion is not founded solely on my own judg- ment, it is a sentence which I have heard pronounced by many for whose critical knowledge I entertain the highest respect: and I consider it one to which the bulk of Macpherson's readers, at least tacitly, assent. For how few, comparatively, are there who have the resolution to wade through all the poems in his collec- tion! how many who cannot uninterruptedly peruse even a single poem, with any degree of interest! I really have heard almost all those with whom I have conversed on the subject assert, ' that they did not consider the poems of Ossian calculated to be read in a connected way that they were only fit to be looked over in a detached manner.' (as if they were like a book of proverbs, and derived no advantage from that unity, and regularity of plot, which they invariably possess). In fact, it is obvious that few read them for any other purpose than to select some of the beautiful similies, and energetic sentiments, with which they are interspersed: Thus making the embellishments, which should in every poem be only a secondary object, their primary one. And this is the reason why we so sel- dom meet individuals who have obtained any historical XVI PREFATORY DISCOURSE. information from Ossian, or can accurately describe the characters of his heroes: they have been dwelling on other objects than those with which the original poet meant principally to arrest their attention: and thus have lost nine-tenths of the pleasure and advantage that they might otherwise have derived. These are facts which cannot be disproved : as they must be no- torious to every one who looks round the circle of his acquaintance. In short, I may safely assert that, to the generality" of his readers, Macpherson's translation of Ossian is very little better than a sealed book. Where experience pronounces unequivocally, specula- tion must submit to her decision. Nor will the fine- spun sophistry which we hear from some people, of the stile of Macpherson being ' admirably suited to the subject simple, elegant, &c. &c.' be able to over- rule the order of nature. The mind of man is not constituted to admire long-continued abruptness and incoherence : And it is as vain to expect that a work in which these properties predominate will give general satisfaction ; as that a person could feast deliciously on food that he does not relish. Those who have made the human mind their study, and have examined into the nature of that species of stile which has always been best received, ought not to find much difficulty in explaining all the mystery ; as PREFATORY DISCOURSE. XV11 they must discern, that it was only on those embel- lishments, which were originally intended to heighten the painting, and to encrease the general effect, that Macpherson bestowed any pains. From the very slo- venly manner in which the intermediate parts are ex- ecuted, a remarkable inequality pervades the work: the ornaments are too prominent and too dazzling ; they engross too much of the reader's attention ; and lie scattered about, like jewels in the mire ; so that he hurries on to pick them up, heedless of what inter- venes. In fine, Macpherson's translation might, at best, be compared to an anatomical picture, in which a person well skilled in the art may discover the linea- ments of symmetry and beauty: but an ordinary ob- server descries little more than its singularity. No extraordinary degree of penetration is necessary to perceive, that the number of those is small who will be at the trouble to supply an author's deficien- cies. For the generality of readers he must do every thing must remove all ambiguity all ruggedness; and lead them on in a smooth and uninterrupted path, to their journey's end. In works of fancy and ima- gination this is particularly essential : Such are perused principally for amusement and recreation; and we are impatient at being obliged to call in the judgment, at every step we take. Most people will be discou- XV111 PREFATORY DISCOURSE. raged at the very onset: and there are none who, when they are soaring aloft, like continually to de- scend. Really there is so nice a connexion, so po- lished a surface necessary in the higher regions of language, that the smallest link cannot be spared, nor the minutest flaw viewed, without feelings of regret. It must be acknowledged that it is putting an author to a severe test, the depriving him of his native phrase- ology, and compelling him to wear a foreign costume. And the person who undertakes to do so (especially to render poetry) enters on a task of much responsibility, and delicacy. For if he endeavour to translate ver- bally, he is almost sure of introducing ambiguity and ruggedness; and if he translate too paraphrastically, he runs the risk of changing the characteristics of the original, for his own. In fact he has no less an opera- tion than that of re-modelling the original : and can- not be said to have done his duty, unless he transfuse the author's ideas, with all their native force, grace, and dignity, as far as the genius of the new language will permit. In a word, his great aim must be, to speak as it might be supposed that the original author would have expressed himself, had he become intimate- ly acquainted with the true character of the language into which he is translated. Doubtless, as the manners, customs, and civilization of a people influence the character of their language ; PREFATORY DISCOURSE. XIX so do the temper, habits, and refinement of an indivi- dual in some measure characterise his stile. The calm, the temperate, and the experienced, express themselves very differently from the choleric, the rash, and the unrefined. Nay farther, the very situation in which the individual is placed, the very circumstances which surround him, will also greatly influence the operations of his mind, and, of consequence, his expression. Thus, although a man violently agitated, and distracted with strong and varied emotions, will naturally speak with abruptness and irregularity ; it would be grossly incor- rect to make the same person express himself in a similar manner in narration, grief, or under any circum- stances that bespeak reflection, and in which we may suppose the mind to advance in an uninterrupted pro- gression. Here, then, are considerations which the translator must never overlook, if he would acquit him- self faithfully ; and which will also furnish the reader with a criterion by which to judge of Mr. Macpher- son's performance: let him weigh well the character of Ossian, serene, amiable, of great self-possession, and of a reflecting turn of mind from his youth ; also enjoying all the advantages of education that his sera admitted of; a bard by profession ; and consequently accustomed to arranging and combining his ideas : let him, I say, take all this into consideration, and pro- XX PREFATORY DISCOURSE. nounce whether Mr. Macpherson speaks as the " BARD OF CONA" might be expected to have done. But farther ; it may be of use to us, in our present discussion, to glance at some peculiar objects of atten- tion, which no translator of poetry ought to lose sight of. These arise from the nature, and mechanical struc- ture of verse from its artificial metre, and the rigid attention to euphony, &c. This every one who has had any practice in poetic composition will at once con- ceive : He will be aware that the necessity of observ- ing accent, quantity, and all the other characteristics of this musical language, must, in some measure, deter- mine the composer in his selection of words ; cause him occasionally to employ some in a more extended sense than he would have done were he writing prose, in which (as there is no absolute standard for the disposi- tion and arrangement, nothing determined or arbitrary with respect to its cadences,) he is less fettered, and has less to divert him from strict logicial accuracy in his choice of expression. Not only will this artificial disposition and arrangement of poetry influence the choice of single words; it will even extend its effects still farther will sometimes, perhaps, induce a greater brevity, sometimes a greater diffuseness, than the author might have observed, had he nothing more than the bare communication of his ideas to attend to. Nay PREFATORY DISCOURSE XXI more, it may sometimes affect even his descriptions ; perchance, lead him to select different features, and different circumstances, from what he might otherwise have exhibited : and thus cause him to present the object to us in somewhat a different (possibly a more un- favourable) light than he might otherwise have done. Doubtless, what we have here mentioned will less fre- quently occur where the author has powerful talents, and an extended vocabulary, than in the works of a second-rate genius. But we find some traces of it even in the compositions of the most refined and distinguish- ed poets : though the pleasure which our ear derives, from the delicacy and harmony of their periods, diverts us from scrutinizing too narrowly, and makes us ima- gine that every thing is as well as it could possibly have been accomplished. But when we come to strip the poet of all his native harmony when we transpose him into another language; in which, perhaps, his most sonorous words are changed for harsh and dis- cordant sounds when all the ingenious mechanism of his verse is destroyed, and he is left dependant on the mere force of the ideas that he conveys what a test is he put to! how apparent are all his foibles, without ^. single extenuating circumstance ! Is this, I would ask, > the way to do justice to an author? Is this, think you. the mode he would have adopted, had he himself be- D XX11 PREFATORY DISCOURSE. come the translator ? No surely. And yet it will be pal- pable, from comparing Mr. Macpherson's translation with the original, that in many places he has observed this method : Nor has he always even done Ossian the justice to convey any thing like the naked unadorned meaning ; for at times it would baffle the acutest judg- ment to ascertain the true import of some passages in his version. From the above remarks we perceive how delicate a task it is to translate poetry ; and may draw some useful inferences, as to the mode most likely to prove successful. Indeed, if we examine the most admired translations of ancient or modern poetry into our language, we shall find that the authors of them seldom lost sight of the foregoing principles. They sometimes condensed, sometimes expanded the original: Sometimes rejected, altogether what they conceived to have been inserted solely on account of the mechanism of verse ; or replaced it by something more congenial with the general strain of sentiment, and likely to make a better figure in the new version. In short they en- deavoured to enter fully into the spirit into the train of ideas, in which the original author appeared to have proceeded to pass him through the alembic of a sound and critical judgment ; and boldly attempted even to rectify his faults, (for what author is without them?) PREFATORY DISCOURSE. XX111 and to heighten his beauties. What the effect has been any one may speedily satisfy himself, by inspecting POPE'S immortal (though paraphrastic) translation of Homer, and comparing it with MACPHERSON'S attempt to give a literal version of the Iliad, in his jargon.* And yet, though Mr. Macpherson failed so decidedly in his attempt, in my opinion, he has done far more justice to Homer than to Ossian. And here I would remark, that the almost general abruptness of Mr. Macpherson's translation, appears to me to be far more the effect of art, than of either acci- dent, or negligence. In many places we discover a studi- ous attention to tmcouthness. He frequently introduces a period, where a comma, or at all events a semi-colon would have sufficed. And this of itself greatly tends to break the chain of ideas in the mind of the reader ; who is from habit led to conclude the sense complete, where a period occurs. He likewise rejects expletives, connectives, and even the article, when really neces- sary, according to the genius of the English language. But we also perceive evident marks of inattention and In Mr. Macpherson's preface to his translation of the Iliad, he says, " The translator will be much disappointed should the reader take this ver- sion for mere prose." The learned gentleman need not have felt the least uneasiness on the subject : for there was not the slightest danger that any one could have made go egregious a mistake. PREFATORY DISCOURSE. carelessness, a bad choice of expression, and nume- rous instances of words employed in an inappropriate sense. Besides, after all his witicisms on Irish bulls, he betrays strong symptoms of having himself caught the contagion. I shall now make some extracts from his translation, to exhibit his mode of proceeding: " The blue waves of Erin roll in light. The moun- tains are covered with day. Trees shake their dusky heads, in the breeze. Grey torrents pour their noisy streams. Two green hills, with aged oaks, surround a narrow plain, (the word " surround " is here rather unfortunate.) The blue course of a stream is there. On its banks stood Cairbar of Atha. His spear supports the king: the red eye of his fear is sad. Cormac rises in his soul, with all his ghastly wounds. Blood pours from his airy side. Cairbar thrice threw his spear on earth, (how affected!) Thrice he stroked his beard. His steps are short. He often stops. He tosses his si- newy arms. He is like a cloud in the desert, varying its form to every blast. The vallies are sad around, and fear, by turns, the shower ! The king, at length, resumed his soul. He took his pointed spear. He turn- ed his eye to Moilena. The scouts of blue ocean came. They came with steps of fear, and often looked behind. Cairbar knew that the mighty were near! He called his gloomy chiefs." TEMORA : BOOK 1. PREFATORY DISCOURSE. XXV In the next section we have : " There Morlath stood with darkened face. * * * Foldath stands, like an oozy rock, that covers its dark sides with foam. (How much better to have used the verb "covers" in the passive sense.) His spear is like Slimora's fir, that meets the winds of heaven. (Would not " braves" have conveyed the obvious meaning of the poet, far better than "meets 2 " which, by the bye, savours strongly of bull-making, as well as the rock covering itself with foam.) * * These and a thousand other chiefs surrounded the king of Erin, when the scout of ocean came, Mor-annal, from streamy Moilena. His eyes hang forward from his face. * His lips are trem- bling pale!" Mr. Macpherson is likewise frequently obscure: in- deed, sometimes so ridiculously so, as almost to create laughter on the most serious occasions. For instance, when he is describing the assassination of Oscar by Cair- bar, (TEMORA, Book I.) he says " Cairbar shrinks before Oscar's sword! he creeps in darkness behind a stone. He lifts the spear in secret ; he pierces my Oscar's side ! He falls forward on his shield: his knee sustains the chief. But still his spear is in his hand. See gloomy * I do not know what the reader may think of this expression : but to me it appears to be a singularly uncouth one, to say the least of it. \ XXVI PREFATORY DISCOURSE. Cairbar falls!" Here it is scarcely necessary for me to observe, that, from the grammatical (or, I should rather say, un grammatical) construction ; we are almost tempt- ed to conclude that Cairbar himself does all this " He pierces my Oscar's side ! He falls forward on his shield, &c." but quite the contrary: it is Oscar that "falls forward on his shield" it is Oscar who " supports him- self on his knee," and, from this position, darts his spear through Cairbar 's forehead.* The learned gentleman sometimes also speaks (what at least in my humble judgment appears to be) sheer nonsense. For instance, when Carril, the bard, is des- cribing the sons of Usnoth, (TEMORA, Book I.) he is made to say, " Their stature is like young trees in a valley, growing in a shower!" With the greatest pro- priety a note of admiration is placed at the end of this notable sentence : for indeed it is a most miraculous one. The reader, I dare say, will agree with me, that, either the gentry in those days must have had a more than " microscopic eye," or that this is most wretch- ed and unpardonable bombast. Had he said, " Their stature was like young trees growing in a valley of streams, or even in a valley of showers, (following In a succeeding page, the whole of this passage is compared with a verbal translation from the original. PREFATORY DISCOURSE. XXV11 the Gaelic idiom,) a striking image would have been presented to the understanding. For every one knows, that trees will shoot up faster, and look far more ver- dant by a river side, or (in a wet season) in a valley, where the moisture is retained to their roots, than in a high and mountainous situation ; where they are stinted in their growth, and contract a shrivelled, and less flourishing appearance. Now this is precisely the idea which the poet wished to convey: that they were stripplings, who had quickly shot up to the sta- ture of a man, yet exhibiting all the vernal bloom of youth. I could produce numerous other specimens of the evident injustice which Macpherson has done to the venerable bard : evident, indeed, even to a person en- tirely ignorant of the original. And no one can deny that such slovenly work as this is enough to tire and disgust any reader. But lest it be said that we deal harshly with Mr. M. in taking him to task for errors which possibly were in the original from which he translated ; I shall here in- sert a paragraph from his preface to an edition of the poems, published in August 1773, eleven yuars after they had first made their appearance. From this we shall find that he openly professed to have made alter- ations and improvements, and to have left the poems XXVI11 PREFATORY DISCOURSE. in & finished state. " Without encreasing his genius, the author may have improved his language, in the eleven years that the following poems have been before the public. Errors in diction might have happened at twenty-four, which the experience of a riper age may remove ; and some exuberances in imagery may be restrained, with advantage, by a degree of judgment acquired in the progress of time. Impressed with this opinion, he ran over the whole with attention and Mccuracy; and, he hopes, he has brought the work to a state of correctness, which will preclude all future improvements." Here then, it would appear that we have not taken this very modest author* off his guard : For, as he de- clares his pages to have undergone the labor limae, he becomes a fair subject for criticism. Besides, we can point out, very unequivocally, that he well knew how to make suppressions and alterations, when it answered * In another place he very plainly intimates the opinion he had of bis own merit : " The writer has now resigned them (the poems) for ever to their fate. That they have been well received by the public, appears from an extensive sale ; that they shall continue to be well received, he may venture to prophecy without the gift of.that inspiration, to which poets lay claim. Again : " The operation (that is, of translating them into foreign languages) must, however, be performed with skilful hands. A translator, who cannot equal Iiis original, is incapable of expressing its beauties." PREFATORY DISCOURSE. XXIX his purpose when any phrase stood in the way of an opinion which he wished to maintain. Of this we have a bold example in Temora, Canto VII. In the Gaelic, which we have before adverted to as published by Mac- phergon, the poet takes occasion to remark, that the star Tonthena, which was the most conspicuous orna- ment on the shield of Cathmor, had by its fortunate appearance saved Larthon, the ancestor of that hero, from shipwreck, and guided him (as the original ex- pressly states) to VICTORY " NAM BUADH." To pre- vent ambiguity, I shall here mention that Larthon was then proceeding with a colony of the Bolgi, from INIS- OUAINE, (the island of Anglesey*) to Ireland; night descended, and a storm came on: " Terror (as the poet expresses it) seized on the sons of BOLGA :" (it was their first voyage; and, as they had altogether lost sight of the stars, they knew not whither to steer their course.) "When bright Tonthena of the billows smiled from her bursting clouds, mild-shining on the *My reasons for considering the IMS-OUAINE (or, as Mr. Macpherson calls it, the " Inishuna") of Ossian to be the isle of ANGLESEY, I think are conclusive : they shall be given in another poem, of which the scene of action is laid there. I am inclined to think that the bay of GCLBIN, into which Larthon's ship is said to have run after the storm, was Dublin-bay. For this latter supposition, it is true, I can offer nothing but probabilities ; however these should certainly be allowed some weight, when there is no- thing to bring against them. But of this more hereafter. E XXX PREFATORY DISCOURSE. sea of storms; she guided the joyful Larthon TO VIC- TORY." But Macpherson suppresses the expression to victory, and mutilates the whole passage ; for the very obvious reason, that it is in direct opposition to an as- sertion which he makes in another place, viz. that Lar- thon' s colony was the first that settled in Ireland. For the humblest understanding could not avoid drawing the inference, that if Larthon's followers were the very first inhabitants of Ireland, there were no enemies for him to combat with. Besides, it militates against what Mr. Macpherson most strenuously endeavours to prove, namely, that the pretensions of Ireland to antiquity are altogether unfounded, and evidently contradicted by Ossian. This is a point so important, that it would be highly unpardonable in me to pass it over in a cursory man- ner ; in-as-much as we shall, I expect, be able not only fully to repel a charge, which some (relying on the accuracy of Macpherson's statement) have brought against the poems, ' of being in direct opposition to well-established authorities, and therefore spurious ;' but we shall also have an opportunity of displaying Mr. Macpherson in his proper colours, and exposing the shallowness of his judgment, and (strange as it may appear,) his ignorance of the tendency of the very poems which he attempted lo translate. PREFATORY DISCOURSE. XXXI But, before we proceed to make extracts from his dissertation, and formally to compare his assertions with the statement of Ossian ; it may be satisfactory to the reader to have an epitome of the opinion which he (Mr. M.) has advanced, as to the first settlement of Ireland, and other circumstances connected with the subject. It is as follows: That Ireland was first peo- pled from Britain the southern parts by the Firbolg, or Belgse, from South Britain, and the northern parts by the Gael, who passed over, from Caledonia and the Hebrides, into Ulster. He, in several places, admits that the Firbolg appear to have been the first settlers. But then he declares it to be an important fact, abso- lutely established, that the first monarch of Ireland was of the Caledonian race ; and that we cannot place the sera of that monarch prior to the first century: He triumphantly exclaims, " To establish this fact is to lay, at once, aside the pretended antiquities of the Scots and Irish, and to get quit of a long list of kings which the latter give us for a millenium before." The reader will perceive, from what follows, that, in the above summary, I have not given a false tinge to the opinions of Macpherson. In his DISSERTATION CONCERNING THE POEMS OF OSSIAN, he says : "John Fordun was the first who collected these fragments of the Scots history, which had escaped the brutal policy XXX11 PREFATORY DISCOURSE. of Edward I, and reduced them into ordef. * * * Some time before Fordun wrote, the king of England, in a letter to the Pope, had run up the antiquity of his nation to a very remote aera. Fordun, possessed of all the national prejudice of the age, was unwilling that his country should yield, in point of antiquity, to a people, then its rivals and enemies. Destitute of annals in Scotland, he had recourse to Ireland, which, according to the vulgar errors of the times, was reckoned the first habitation of the Scots. He found, there, that the "Irish bards had carried their pretensions to anti- quity as high, if not beyond any nation in Europe. It was from them he took those improbable fictions, which form the first part of his history." Again, he says : " That Ireland was first peopled from Britain, is, at length, a matter that admits of no doubt. * * * I shall easily admit, that the colony of the Firbolg, confessedly the Beiges of Britain, settled in the south of Ireland, before the Cael, or Caledonians, discovered the north : but it is not at all likely, that the migration of the Firbolg to Ireland happened many centuries before the Christian sera." In another part of his dissertation he states that, " Temora contains not only the history of the first mi- gration of the Caledonians into Ireland, (I should be glad to know where this history is to be found: for my PREFATORY DISCOURSE. XXXIII part, I can neither find a history of, nor even an al- lusion to this event,} it also preserves some important facts, (yes, more than Mr. M. wished the public to discover) concerning the first settlement of* the Fir- bolg, or Belg with Con- lama, daughter to Cathmin, a chief of Ullin (Ulster) ; the poet goes on to describe the progress of that war, which appears first to have brought Conar into notice in Ireland : " The pride of Turloch rose, a youth who loved the white-handed Conlama. He came with battle to Alnecma; to Atha of the roes. * * # Battle on battle comes. Blood is poured on blood. The tombs of the valiant rise. Erin's clouds are hung round with ghosts. The chiefs of the south gathered round the echoing shield of Crothar. He came with death to the paths of the foe. The virgins wept, by the streams of Ullin," &c. * * In this distressing situation, they called in foreign aid. " Descending PREFATORY DISCOURSE. XXXV11 like the eagle of heaven, with all his rustling wings, when he forsakes the blast, with joy, (and I would add, equally greedy for his prey) the son of Tren- mor came; Conar arm of death, from Morven of the groves. He poured his might along green Erin. Death dimly strode behind his sword. The sons of Bolga fled from his course. * * # Crothar met him in battle: but Alnecma's warriors fled. The king of Atha slowly retired in the grief of his soul. He afterwards shone in the south." * * * Here then is all that Ossian says, which could throw any light on the subject. And I am sure the reader will agree with me, that there is no account " of the first migration of the Gael into Ireland ;" no proof that Conar was the first king ; nor any reason to con- clude that Ireland was, in the time of Conar, any thing like an infant country: Indeed, I think we have presumptive evidence of its not being then thinly in- habited: as Crothar, king of Atha, is said to have " shone in the south," after he was defeated by Conar: which evidently means, that he was successful in war against some southern enemies. Another circumstance which I think worthy of attention, as seeming to re- fer the arrival of the colony of the Bolgi, under Larthon to a very remote antiquity, is, it is said in the seventh Canto of Temora, that " the maids turn their F XXXV111 PREFATORY DISCOURSE. eyes away, lest the king should be lowly laid ; for never had they seen a ship, dark-rider of the wave!"* Thus, for the departure of this colony, we must go back to a period when the first ship was launched in Anglesey. But how long anterior to this was the first colonization, Ossian does not afford us the least oppor- tunity of judging: but he decidedly intimates that there were inhabitants in Ireland previous to Larthon's arrival. Where then is the ground of all Mr. Macpherson's exultation ? has he proved a single one of his unquali- fied assertions? It is true, Ossian declares the northern Irish and the western Caledonians to have been origi- nally the same people : but this has been always admit- ted, on every side. But there certainly is not the slightest intimation in any of the poems, as to Ireland having, at any time, received a colony from Scotland : therefore some other authority must decide the dispute. One thing, however, is perfectly evident from the foregoing examination, viz. that Macpherson was nei- * Though I have, in the above passage, quoted from Macpherson's trans- lation ; I must remark that it is miserably defective : The original inti- mates the terror of the "virgins," lest Larthon should "fall from the wing of the tempest," when they saw the vessel " obliquely sailing," (that is, close-haul' d, and plying to wind-ward, as sailors term it) : In short it beautifully describes their emotion, when, from " the heights of Cluba," they beheld the ship hanging as it were, on "the wing of the wind !" enclining so much to leeward, that they thought she must inevita- bly upset. PREFATORY DISCOURSE. XXXIX ther the composer, nor the compiler, of the poem of Temora : as, in either case, he must have comprehended its plot and bearing: though he might have translated, sentence by sentence, and even have collated different copies of the poem, and even have corrected senten- tious and minute inaccuracies, without making himself perfectly acquainted with the story that it conveyed. This latter assertion, to some people, perhaps, will appear rather strange : but it may be explained, thus : in translating, the mind is principally occupied with the minutiae of the author, the ideas are frequently in- terrupted, and the attention somewhat divided ; hence many obstacles occur to our carrying on a connected view of all the bearings of the subject: the same may be said of collating. But in original composition the imagination is of necessity strongly impressed with the general tendency of the story; the outline must be sketched before the minutiae can be executed. In fact, in the designment there must invariably be a continued an uninterrupted exertion of the understanding, to insure unity, and uniformity. Nor is this less called for in compiling; which, perhaps, is still more a busi- ness of industry, and one in which the judgment is peculiarly engaged, in order to put the disjointed, and often mutilated fragments together, and supply the deficiencies, so as to give, at least, rationality in X PREFATORY DISCOURSE. the general effect. The reader can himself apply this to the case-in-point : he will see the absurdity of the supposition, that Macpherson could have put together the "shreds and patches" (as they have been called) of various bards, have removed every thing contra- dictory, supplied all deficiencies, and produced a whole, exhibiting such admirable regularity and art, (without, I may assert, the most trifling antilogy,) and yet, after all, remain absolutely ignorant of the true import of what he had accomplished with so much la- bour. But, if we take into account the character given him, by one who knew him personally by no less an individual than DAVID HUME, we shall have little difficulty in concluding (from the many errors in judgment, and blunders which he has been guilty of, but in particular, from that gross one, which I remark- ed in my notes on DAR-THULA ; and which proves him to have overlooked what might without impropriety be called a corner-stone of the whole structure,) we shall, I say, be enclined to think, that the man took up his opinions with little or no consideration; and, by his impetuous temper, was often hurried on to make assertions without weighing them. Another thing which must have tended to make him view the poem of Temora with a jaundiced eye, was, he seems to have got hold of the hypothesis that all the island of PREFATORY DISCOURSE. xli Great Britain was peopled, gradually, and progres- sively, by settlers who landed in the south of England, and, in process of time, extended themselves northwards ; sending their colonies to Ireland as they increased in numbers. He started, I dare say, with this notion ; and every thing in Ossian which, at a superficial view, appeared to favour it, was (fortutiate- ly*) swallowed by him with avidity. It would, likewise, be perfectly consistent with his disposition, to have recourse to sophistry, in order to defend any of the opinions advanced by him, (even had he afterwards discovered his error,) rather than confess himself in fault. And his obvious imprudence in mis-translating the very specimen of the original which he gave to the public, ought not to excite much surprise, when we consider that inconsistencies were continually to be expected from so " heteroclite a mortal:" who, in addition to his other good qualities, held the under- standing of his cotemporaries in most sovereign con- tempt. But to return from our digression. I shall here remark, that the reason is obvious, why Ossian has left it undecided, when, and by whom Ireland was first peopled, viz. it would have been * Fortunately, I say ; for by his blunders we are in some measure able 10 discover the school-hoy part which he acted ia the transaction,- Xlii PREFATORY DISCOURSE. entirely irrelevant to his subject to have gone into an investigation on the question. The object which he had in view, in the Episodes introduced in the second Canto of TEMORA, was to point out the origin of the war in which they were at that moment engaged ; and therefore it was sufficient for him to trace the cause up to those disputes between the Gael and Firbolg, which we have before mentioned. But it is worthy of notice, though he says not a word as to the origin of the Irish Gael, he enters into particulars concerning the colony of Larthon, the ancestor of his enemies. Very satis- factory reasons can be assigned for this difference, namely, the Caledonians, to whom Ossian addresses his poems, were fully aware of the nature and origin of that connexion which subsisted between the Gael of Ireland and the Gael of Scotland ; it was therefore un- necessary, and would even have been frivolous in him, to have entered upon the detail of what every one was acquainted with : however gratifying it may now be to us, to have his direct evidence on this point. But perhaps Mr. Macpherson has, unwittingly, hit off the very reason of Ossian 's silence with respect to the first migration of the Irish Gael, viz. even down to the time of John Fordun, " according to the vulgar errors of the times, Ireland was reckoned the first habitation of the Scots." Now, for aught Mr. Mac- PREFATORY DISCOURSE. xliii pherson could say, those vulgar errors might have extended to the very days of Ossian : for, " vulgar errors" (a he is pleased to take upon himself to call them,) are seldom without some foundation ; although learned errors often have their origin in prbde, possi- tivity, and a wish to appear singular, and to be count- ed the author of original theories. With the greatest propriety, however, Ossian enters into particulars concerning the colony of Larthon ; as it served to ex- plain why Cathmor took so active a part in the affairs of Inishouaine, the mother-country of his ancestors: and besides it was an historical fact with which Ossian's countrymen, in general, were far less likely to be acquainted, than with the other. As for my part, it would have been one of the last contests I should ever have interfered in, which was the mother-country, Ireland, or Scotland, were it not my duty to clear Ossian of any imputation that could operate to his prejudice. I fancy that I sin- cerely love my native land: although I can both respect and esteem the Scotch ; and could wish that, in many respects, we made them objects of our imi- tation. All national prejudice I disclaim, as degrading to a rational being. However, I cannot avoid saying, that (at least in my opinion) the Irish, to this very hour, exhibit evident marks of being a most compound Xliv PREFATORY DISCOURSE. people. I have had an opportunity of knowing them in every part of Ireland ; and am convinced that they are the descendants of various of many colonies. We can scarcely travel from one province to another, without discovering striking characteristics of a dis- tinct race from those we had left. And, what is wor- thy of remark, we meet this great diversity among the lower orders; who are, generally speaking, in the habit of forming connexions with their immediate neighbours. Any diversity of feature, &c. in the higher classes, should not excite surprise, from their frequent intercourse with the English, the Scotch, and the Welsh. But my senses deceive me, if among the peasantry of Ireland there are not indisputable cha- racteristics, of several of them being of a different origin from any people that I have seen in any or either of the three countries now mentioned be they Milesians, Phoenicians, Egyptians, or whatever they may. Of this I conceive their eternal broils, (arising, unquestionably, from their originally having had a diver- sity of conflicting interests,) to be an unequivocal testi- mony: not to mention several other marks, as their great variety of dialects, &c. &c. Nor is this opinion the least discountenanced by Ossian; but rather the contrary : and I am sorry to say, that, instead of being a boastful circumstance for Erin, I look upon it to PREFATORY DISCOURSE. have been her bane ! the fertile source of many of her misfortunes : and therefore far more to be deplored by every true patriot, than if all our boasted annals all our pretensions to national antiquity were at once buried in oblivion. I cannot here resist the temptation of drawing my reader's attention, to the glaring contrast between the illiberal and contemptible efforts of Macpherson, and the calm and dispassionate opinion of the Rev. Henry Rowlands, a Welshman, author of MONA ANTIQUA RESTAURATA, the book of which I have spoken in my notes to DAR-THULA a book teeming with useful information respecting the antiquities of the united kingdom. In speaking of the ancient inhabitants of Ireland, he says ; " The Irish memoirs are undoubt- edly in many things of good repute and credit, sup- ported by the weighty reasons given in defence of them. That the Irish people had early learning among them, such at least as related to family-histories, and the like, and that they made the best use of it, is not to be ques- tioned. Their Druids, having less of power and au- thority among the people, became, thereby, as more tractable, so more obliging and kinder to posterity than the British Druids were, (as will appear hereafter,) who, humourously bigoted in their .way, by their haughty disdain of letters and contempt of writing, G PREFATORY DISCOURSE. treasured all in their own noddles, whereas the Irish Druids, less strict in the ancient rules of their profes- sion, scrupled not to record in writing, and thereby transmitted to succeeding times the many histories of their monarchs and princes, the genealogies of their chief tribes and families, and other occurrences of note, many of which are to this day, to be seen among them. All which helps the Britains in a great measure wanted, by the inexcusable pride and folly of our British Druids, who superstitiously avoided that way of communicating. But how learned and knowing soever they were in many things, they buried all with them, to the exceeding loss of posterity, except what the learned in other nations took notice of, and left in their account of them. This unhappy temper of the British Druids has left our nation so much in the dark, that during their time, we hare very little to depend on, but what the names of places, and other footsteps of ancient things, will give us room to make the best use we can, of guesses and conjectures. But though our British Druids did religiously abstain from the use of writing ; yet it is not unlikely, but that our Bards and Genealogists were men of greater latitude, and took the liberty to record in writing, the names and descents, and some accounts also, of our British kings and princes, for it is owned by Ccesar himself PREFATORY DISCOURSE. that they had letters among them, and that they some- times used them, in their public and private affairs, though in things appertaining to religion, they very strictly forbare the use of them, and communicated their systems ore tenus, in rhythmical odes, and verses, to their hearers." In many places this gentleman bears a decided, and, unquestionably, an unbiassed testimony to the antiquity of Ireland to its having been a country of considerable importance, for ages previous to the sera of Ossian. Likewise, it is worthy of notice that nearly the whole of his elaborate volume is strongly confirmatory of the view which I have taken of the state of society about the time when we suppose the poems to have been composed ; and (need I add?) a most satisfactory refutal of what has been urged as to the barbarity of our fore-fathers at that period: But my present limits do not allow me to pursue the subject, at that length which it would de- mand: so that I must here content myself with this general remark, that, in my opinion, the most unan- swerable arguments in favour of the authenticity of Ossian 's poems, might be drawn from Mr. Rowlands' valuable researches. The reader will probably expect me to notice the various objections which have been urged against the genuineness of these poems. This is a task which I PREFATORY DISCOURSE. should rather have entirely deferred until a future opportunity : as it is utterly impossible to do justice to it, without giving at least a summary of the many, and ingenious treatises, which have made their appearance, on both sides of the question. I beg leave to observe, that I have some idea of hereafter making an attempt of this kind, perhaps in form of an appendix, (should the public deem the proposed translation of the poems worthy of their attention); and I mean to ac- company it with a contribution of my humble mite, by endeavouring to reply to those points in the con- troversy which may appear to me as yet unanswered. However, for the sake of the general reader, I shall now proceed to glance over some of the principal ob- jections which we hear constantly brought forward. But I must claim the indulgence of any who may be prepared to look for a detail that should provide for every possible contingency, if in the following essay I have left many of the fastnesses of the adversaries of the poems unattacked.* The assertion, that "it is entirely out of the nature of things that the poems could be preserved by oral I hope those who have a wish to see the controversy brought to a clone, (which I feel convinced it can be, and the authenticity of the poems established on an immoveable basis J will lend their aid in this (perhaps I may venture to call it) national undertaking, by furnishing all the in- formation iu their power on the subject. PREFATORY DISCOURSE. tradition, alone, for so many centuries," is, I think, more specious than solid. In fact, it is solely from the present state of society from our having so many ar- tificial aids to memory, and, in consequence, being led to neglect the improvement of that natural faculty, and to under-rate the powers of which it is capable, if cultivated to the utmost that this objection gathers all its force. We are all aware that the memory, as well as all the faculties of the mind and body, will acquire exceeding strength by being habitually, and vigor- ously exercised : But still it is difficult for us to form a just estimate of what might be accomplished, in this respect, by a distinct class of men, (such as the bards undubitably were,) whose primary education, probably, at one time consisted in committing these poems to memory, as models for their future imitation; and whose profession led them to an almost daily recital of them. Besides we must hold in view, that, one bard corrupting a passage, either wilfully, or through for- getfullness, did not make it a necessary consequence that others should fall into precisely the same error : others might have preserved the identical passage per- fectly pure, even had they become more defective in other respects; and, thus, we have not only a pos- sible, but also a probable mode of the genuine poetry of Ossian being preserved in existence, 1 PREFATORY DISCOURSE. Here I am brought to remark, that the manner in which Mr. Macpherson is said to have made his col- lection, afforded a better prospect of obtaining the genuine poetry of Ossian, than if he had translated them all from manuscripts in the possession of any one individual: as it enabled him to collate the different copies of a poem ; to retain whatever he thought con- sonant with the usual style of Ossian; and to reject that which appeared to be an interpolation, or even a vitiated passage. No one who is conversant with lite- rature, will consider this a very difficult task : although it was one that required some attention and delicacy. Add the very same use may still be made of the various copies, which have since been collected by the High- land Society, with such praise-worthy zeal.* * The above remark will also serve to invalidate any general objection that may be urged against the poems in MacpbersonV collection, from particular variations that sometimes exist between them and those since obtained ; for it is not reasonable to expect that they should exactly cor- respond. It should be observed, likewise, that Macpherson began to make his collection when circumstances were far more favourable to accuracy ; as the habits of the Highlanders have since his time undergone (in most places,) nearly a to^al revolution ; in consequence of the efforts of the British government to overturn the system of clan-ship, which proved so inconvenient to them in the case of the Pretender,