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has been a subject of as much controversy with the religious of both nations, as Homer's birth place was formerly among the cities of Greece. It is however admitted by the Scottish writers, that St. Columba, the founder of the monastery of Icolmkill, and who flourished in the sixth century, was a native of Ireland. But that he died, worn out with age, at Iona, and was interred there. The Irish pretend, as Mr. Pennant remarks, that in after times he was translated to Down, where, according to the epitaph, his remains were deposited with those of St. Bridget, and St. Patrick. But this is totally denied by the Scots, who affirm that the contrary is shewn in a life of the saint, extracted out of the Pope's library, and translated from the Latin into Gaelic, by father Calohoran, which decides in favour of Iona, the dispute. This Gaelic MS. is in the Advocate's library at Edinburgh (1693). In short whether Ossian, the son of Fingal, or the Irish apostle St. Patrick, or St. Columba, were natives of Scotland or Ireland, we do not consider of sufficient importance for such keen controversy as the subject has, at different periods, excited among writers of both nations; for the fact being established either way, can neither augment or diminish the weight of external evidence necessary to prove that Fingal fought, and that Ossian sung, in Gaelic, in Ireland as well as in Scotland. Nor can it be denied that the language peculiar to both countries was radically the same, being derived from the same parent stock; and that the Irish and Scotch were one and the same people.

Although it may be lamented that the Gaelic language has been on the decline for many years, yet it is flattering to the admirers of Celtic literature, that it has survived Ossian as a living speech in parts of Scotland and Ireland for fifteen hundred years; and there is now a probability, before it becomes a dead or unspoken language, that from the fond attention of the Highlanders and Irish to their vernacular tongue, it may survive our ancient bard, as long as the language of Homer survived him as a living speech in the states of Greece, namely, more than two thousand years.

Note X, referred to p. 328, 9.

As we have the testimony of ancient writers, that there were seven other poets of inferior note, who bore the name of Homer, may it not be reasonably conjectured, by way of reconciling the apparent anachronisms in the Irish poems ascribed to Ossian, the son of Fingal, and

published by Mr. Hill, the Baron de Harold, Miss Brookes, and others, that there might have been one or two other inferior poets, cotemporaries with Saint Patrick, and even posterior to that period, who bore the name of Ossian; or who chose to assume a name in the days of old so renowned in poetic lore?

The question, whether the Scots, derived from the Celtic origin, had first been established in Ireland, and migrated thence to the northwest coasts of Great Britain, has been (as noticed by Mr. Hume) disputed with as great zeal, and even acrimony, between the Scottish and Irish antiquaries, as if the honour of their respective countries were most deeply concerned in the decision. We need not therefore be surprised, that the same zeal has been evinced by each nation in claiming Ossian as her native bard. Homer had contending nations and cities to claim the honour of his birth; and many ages had elapsed before it was ascertained that he was a native of Ionia.

Neither need we be surprised that the bards and traditional preservers of ancient Gaelic songs in Scotland and Ireland, have ever been fond of ascribing them all to so divine a bard as Ossian, especially such poems as relate to the wars, in which he bore a part, and to the exploits of his own race. This may be the cause why there are so many ancient poems in both countries ascribed to Ossian, the son of Fingal. And it must be confessed there is some difficulty in separating the genuine from the spurious, so as to clear them from the mist of obscurity, in which they are enveloped.

Note Y, referred to p. 329.

As it may not be unacceptable to the reader, we shall give a brief explanation of the terms Morgante and Ricciardetto, alluded to in the text, by the Abbé Cesarotti.

1. Morgante, or rather Il Morgante Maggiore, is an epic poem or romance, composed in the fifteenth century, by Luigi Pulci, a Florentine of noble descent. This poem is generally regarded as the prototype of the Orlando Furioso of Ariosto. The author appears to have lived on terms of intimacy with Lorenzo di Medici, who, in one of his poetical effusions titled La Caccia col Falcone, mentions him with great freedom and jocularity. This poem of Morgante, as observed by Mr. Roscoe, in his Life of Lorenzo di Medici, "is the singular offspring of the wayward genius of Pulci, and has been as immoderately commended by its

admirers as it has been unreasonably condemned and degraded by its opponents; and while some have not scrupled to prefer it to the productions of Ariosto and Tasso, others have decried it as vulgar, absurd, and profane." It is said by Crescimbeni, that Pulci was accustomed to recite this poem at the table of Lorenzo, in the manner of the ancient rhapsodists.

2. Ricciardetto is the name of a burlesque poem in thirty cantos, written by Nicolas Fortiguerri, (under the feigned name of Niccolo Carteromaco), a learned Italian prelate, who flourished in the beginning of the last century. The author wished to prove to a party of wits and critics at Rome, how easy it is for a man of imagination to write in the style of Ariosto, whom some of them had preferred to Tasso. In this poem he gives full scope to his imagination; and its extravagance would be fatiguing beyond measure, were it not supported by the greatest ease of versification, and perpetual sallies of pleasantry and genius.

SUPPLEMENTAL OBSERVATIONS

ON THE

AUTHENTICITY OF OSSIAN'S POEMS.

BY JOHN M'ARTHUR, LL. D.

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