Irish Druids and Old Irish Religions

276 Old Irish Religions.
by Macpherson." He speaks of the Macnab being " in
possession of a MS. containing several of the poems of
Ossian and other Celtic bards, in their' native tongue,
which were collected by one of his ancestor s!' At Mull,
he continues, " Here are some persons who can repeat
several of the Celtic poems of Ossian and other bards.
The schoolmaster told me he could repeat a very long
one on the death of Oscar, which was taught him by his
grandfather."
The Royal Irish Academy had, in 1787, a notice of
" ancient Gaelic poems respecting the race of the Fians
(Fenians) collected in the Highlands of Scotland in the
year 1784, by the Rev. M. Young, D.D., Fellow of Trinity
College, Dublin."
Upon this, the Hibernian Magazine for
1788, remarks—
" Dr. Young gives very copious extracts from Ossian, with
a literal, or at least a close, translation ;
and proves
decidedly that the poems of that bard are Irish, not
Scotch compositions, and that Mr. McPherson has
egregiously mutilated, altered, added to, and detracted
from them, according as it suited his hypothesis. He
appears particularly to have suppressed every line of the
author, from which it might be deduced they were of
Irish origin."
There seems ground for the latter statement. There
was the prejudice in favour of the Scotch origin of the
poems, although the narratives clearly deal more with
Irish history and manners. Dalriada was, however, inclusive
of south-west Scotland and north-east Ireland.
Croker declares that "many Irish odes are ascribed to
Oisin." The Inverness Gaelic Society quotes G. J.
Campbell—"
The spirit is felt to be ancient and Celtic. There
can be no doubt regarding the existence of Ossianic
poems and ballads for ages before McPherson."' Donald