James Macpherson (Ossian)

James Macpherson was born in 1736 in the Highlands and became a schoolmaster. At twenty-three he published fifteen fragments that he presented as translations from the Gaelic, and the success earned him a subscription to go and look for the rest in the islands. He brought back two epic poems attributed to a bard of the third century. He then became secretary to the governor of West Florida, then a member of Parliament, rich enough to be buried, as he wished, in Westminster Abbey. He died in 1796.

In the catalogue 1

• PoetryFingal, an Ancient Epic PoemJames Macpherson (Ossian) · 1761LiteraturePublic domain