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Kilmallie Manse, September 25, 1875.
SIR,--There is no man living who has done so much for Gaelic literature
as Mr Campbell, and, just in proportion to my sense of the greatness of
his services, is my reluctance to put myself, even for a moment, in
opposition to him. But his opinion on the Ossianic question, expressed
in his letter, constrains me to oppose him.
One word as to what he says about Jerome Stone's MS. Dr Laing kindly
lent it to me, and it is now in my possession. I referred to it
frequently in my edition of Ossian, 1870. Had I known that Mr Campbell
wished to see it, I would gladly place it at his service. There is no
mystification about this MS.; and I am sorry to say that it will not
turn the scale either way in the present controversy.
But to the main point. Mr Campbell holds "that the Gaelic Ossian of 1807
is a manifest translation from English." Dr Johnson expressed the same
opinion more than a hundred years ago; but while Mr Campbell can speak
with a thousandfold the authority of the great moralist, who knew
nothing of Gaelic, yet even Mr Campbell submits no positive proofs to
support his decision--no new fact of any kind. As far as external
evidence goes, he founds his opinion entirely on what is negative. Now,
I submit that the history of the case presents many undoubted facts all
going to prove the priority of the Gaelic to the English Ossian, and
these facts must be disposed of before Mr Campbell's conclusions can be
adopted.
Let me say in one word that I do not for a moment pretend to solve the
Ossianic mystery. Any theory which has yet been proposed presents
serious difficulties, but I maintain that Mr Campbell's presents the
greatest of all, and in the present state of our knowledge cannot be
adopted.
For proof, I must submit a brief outline of facts certified in the
report of the Highland Society on the subject, and which, though they
are undeniable, are often unaccountably overlooked in the controversy.
1. It is the case that Macpherson, before publishing in English, got
several Gaelic MSS., which he acknowledged in his letters still extant,
and which he showed to his friends; further, that he asked and obtained
the assistance of some of these friends--Captain Morison, Rev. Mr Gallie,
and, above all, Strathmashie--to translate them into English.
2. It is a most important fact that when challenged to produce his
Gaelic MSS., he advertised that they were deposited at his
booksellers--Beckett & De Hondt, Strand, London--and offered to publish
them if a sufficient number of subscribers came forward. The booksellers
certify that his MSS. had lain for twelve months at their place of
business.
3. It is a fact that several persons, well able to judge of the matter,
and of unimpeachable character, such as the Rev. Dr Macpherson, of
Sleat; Rev. Mr Macleod, of Glenelg; Rev. Mr Macneill, &c., &c., did, in
1763--that is, 44 years before the publication of the Gaelic
Ossian--compare Macpherson's English with Gaelic recited by various
persons in their respective neighbourhoods. They give the names of these
persons, and they certify that they found the Gaelic poetry recited by
these, who never had any correspondence with Macpherson, to correspond
in many instances--to the extent of hundreds of lines--with his English.
One very significant fact is brought out in these certifications, that
Gaelic was found to agree with Macpherson's English in cases where he
never gave Gaelic. The English Ossian contains various poems for which
he never gave Gaelic; but here Gaelic, corresponding to his English, is
found in the mouths of people with whom he never held any communication.
Now, what are we to say to all these things? Shall we believe that
Macpherson advertised his MSS. when he had none? The belief implies that
he was insane, which we know was not the case. And are we further to
believe that such men as the above deliberately attested what they knew
to be false, and what, if false, might easily be proved to be so? It is
impossible for a moment to receive such a supposition.
But it is said these, though good men, were prejudiced, spoke loosely,
and therefore are not to be relied on in this enlightened and critical
age. This, however, is assuming a great deal, and in so doing is
_un_critical. Prejudice is at work in the nineteenth century even as it
was in the eighteenth. These men had far better opportunities of judging
the matter than we have. They give their judgment distinctly and
decidedly, and I never yet saw any good reason for setting that judgment
aside.
I must add further, on the historic evidence, that several Gaelic
pieces, and these among the gems of Ossianic poetry, were published by
Gillies in 1786; that some of these are found in the Irvine MS. about
1800; that there is no proof of Macpherson having furnished any of
these; and that the genuineness of one of them, "The Sun Hymn," given
seem to be beyond the possibility of cavil.
From all this it appears to me undoubted that Macpherson began his work
with Gaelic MSS., that he founded his English on them, and that various
portions of his work were known in several quarters of the country forty
years before he published his Gaelic. The subsequent disappearance of
all MSS. containing his Gaelic is very remarkable, and is much founded
on by Mr Campbell. But the history of literature affords various
instances of the preservation of a book depending on one solitary MS.
The case of the great Niebelungen-Lied--unknown for centuries, and
brought to light through the accidental discovery of a MS.--is quite in
point; and to come nearer home, two years ago, only one perfect copy of
the first Gaelic book ever printed, Bishop Carewell's translation of
John Knox's liturgy, was in existence. It may be, then, that when
Macpherson destroyed his Gaelic MSS. he destroyed all in which his
poetry was to be found. Again, it is asked, when Highlanders in the
present day recite so many heroic ballads, why do they not recite
Macpherson's? I answer that there being now forgotten is no proof that
they were never remembered. A hundred years may obliterate many things
among a people. The last hundred years have wrought such obliterations
in the Highlands of Scotland as to make it no cause of wonder that
heroic poetry then remembered should now be forgotten.
I must restrict myself to a very few words on the internal evidence--though
it is on this the question must be finally decided, if it ever is to be
decided. As to the inference from comparing the Gaelic and English, I am
sorry to say that I am entirely at variance with Mr Campbell. The more I
examine the subject, the deeper is my conviction that the freeness of the
Gaelic, the fulness of its similes, and its general freshness incontestably
prove it to be the original. I would refer especially to the sea-pieces
(_e.g._, Carhon, ll. 48-52.) In Gaelic they are vivid and graphic--in
English tame, and almost meaningless--a fact such as might naturally be
expected from the words of a true mariner being translated by a thoroughly
"inland bred man" like Macpherson, but absolutely irreconcilable with his
having written the Gaelic. Mr Campbell himself in his admirable work of the
"West Highland Tales," vol. 4, p. 142, _et seq._, has some striking and
conclusive remarks on the internal evidence of the priority of the
Gaelic to the English; and I sincerely hope, when he considers them
again, they will induce him to return to his first faith.
Much might be said on the structure of the Gaelic--especially the Gaelic
of the 7th Book of Temora, published by Macpherson in 1763, which
differs widely from any other Gaelic that I have met with; and much of
the whole character of Ossian, whether Gaelic or English, being so
absolutely unlike all Macpherson's other compositions--many and well
known; but I must conclude by repeating that Mr Campbell's theory "makes
confusion worse confounded"--in asking us to set at nought the various
facts which I have stated, demands a moral impossibility; and that
whatever light may be thrown on the subject from the new Celtic Chair,
we must in the present state of our knowledge admit Gaelic to be the
original, and Macpherson to be the translator of the Ossianic poems.--I
am, &c.,