The suspicion which arose in regard to the authenticity of Ossian,
subsequent to his appearance in the pages of Macpherson, has unjustly
excited a misgiving respecting the entire poetry of the Gael. With
reference to the elder poetry of the Highlands, it has now been
established[2] that at the period of the Reformation, the natives were
engrossed with the lays and legends of Bards and Seanachies,[3] of which
Ossian, Caoillt, and Cuchullin were the heroes. These romantic strains
continued to be preserved and recited with singular veneration. They
were familiar to hundreds in different districts who regarded them as
relics of their ancestors, and would as soon have mingled the bones of
their fathers with the dust of strangers, as ventured on the alteration
of a single passage. Many of the reciters of this elder poetry were
writers of verses,[4] yet there is no instance of any attempt to alter
or supersede the originals. Nor could any attempt have succeeded. There
are specimens which exist, independent of those collected by Macpherson,
which present a peculiarity of form, and a Homeric consistency of
imagery, distinct from every other species of Gaelic poetry.
Of an uncertain era, but of a date posterior to the age of Ossian, there
is a class of compositions called _Ur-sgeula_,[5] or _new-tales_, which
may be termed the productions of the sub-Ossianic period. They are
largely blended with stories of dragons and other fabulous monsters; the
best of these compositions being romantic memorials of the
Hiberno-Celtic, or Celtic Scandinavian wars. The first translation from
the Gaelic was a legend of the _Ur-sgeula_. The translator was Ierome
Stone,[6] schoolmaster of Dunkeld, and the performance appeared in the
_Scots Magazine_ for 1700. The author had learned from the monks the
story of Bellerophon,[7] along with that of Perseus and Andromeda, and
from these materials fabricated a romance in which the hero is a
mythical character, who is supposed to have given name to Loch Fraoch,
near Dunkeld. Belonging to the same era is the "Aged Bard's Wish,"[8] a
composition of singular elegance and pathos, and remarkable for certain
allusions to the age and imagery of Ossian. This has frequently been
translated. Somewhat in the Ossianic style, but of the period of the
_Ur-sgeula_ are two popular pieces entitled _Mordubh_[9] and _Collath_.
Of these productions the imagery is peculiarly illustrative of the
character and habits of the ancient Gael, while they are replete with
incidents of the wars which the Albyn had waged with their enemies of
Scandinavia. To the same period we are disposed to assign the "Song of
the Owl," though it has been regarded by a respectable authority[10] as
of modern origin. Of a portion of this celebrated composition we subjoin
a metrical translation from the pen of Mr William Sinclair.
The Bard, expelled from the dwellings of men by
plunderers according to one account, by a discontented
helpmate according to another, is placed in a lone
out-house, where he meets an owl which he supposes
himself to engage in an interchange of sentiment
respecting the olden time:--