The Highlanders of Scotland - Clan Strachan Society

134 THE HIGHLANDERS [part i
hyperbole, was increased in them b}' the pecuh'ar and imaginative
nature of their character, by their secluded situation,
and the romantic aspect of their country ; and thus poetry
was from the earliest period almost the only medium b}'
which a knowledge of the great events of their early history,
the achievements of their forefathers, and the illustrious
examples presented for their emulation was conveyed to the
Highlanders, and the warlike and somewhat chivalrous character
of the nation preserved.
Of this species of historical poetry, a very ancient and
remarkable specimen has been preserved to us in the Albanic
Duan, a poem, written in the eleventh century, and containing
the earliest traditions of the origin of the nation before the
fables of the Scottish monks had full sway in the country ;
but, by a fate altogether singular in the case of the Highlanders,
a complete body of these ancient versified histories
have been handed down in the poems of Ossian. It is not
Historical
system of
m\- intention here to enter into the much disputed
question of the authenticity of these poems, taken
as a whole ; public opinion has long been made up
as to their literary merit, and no proof of their authenticit}'
which could be adduced could make
opinion. When considered as a poet,
any alteration in that
it only remains for the
individual admirers of Ossian to examine the claims of his
works to be considered as the productions of a remote age ;
but when looked upon as an historian,
it becomes a matter
of great and general importance that the question of their
authenticity should be set at rest. It is now universally
admitted that the ground-work of these poems is ancient,
while it is generally held thar upon that foundation a modern
superstructure has been raised ; with that question we have
here nothing to do, but the point to be determined is, whether
the historical system contained in the poems of Ossian is a
part of that ancient ground-work, and an actual record of the
events of remote ages, handed down through a long course of
centuries, or whether it is the invention of a modern and
ignorant antiquary. It has long been adduced, as a great
objection to the authenticity of these poems, that the system
of history contained in them is untrue, and that it is diamet-