Poetry
Fingal, an Ancient Epic Poem
James Macpherson (Ossian) · 1761
Opening lines
Cuchullin ſat by Tura's wall; by the tree of the ruſtling leaf.——His ſpear leaned againſt the moſſy rock. His ſhield lay by him on the graſs.
Text quoted from archive.org
Synopsis
Swaran, king of Lochlin, lands in Ireland. Cuthullin, who guards the kingdom in the name of the young king Cormac, refuses to wait for the help of Fingal, king of Morven, and gives battle. The first day remains undecided; the ghost of Crugal announces defeat to Connal, and the Irish army is routed. Calmar, wounded, holds a pass alone to cover the retreat while Fingal's fleet approaches. Ossian, son of Fingal, sings these battles; Bragela waits on her rock for Cuthullin's return.
Context
The book appeared in London in December 1761, the title page bearing the following year, hence the sources' wavering between the two dates. Its author presented it as the translation of an epic found in the islands, the work of a poet who would have lived fifteen hundred years earlier. Irish historians pointed out errors of chronology and badly formed Gaelic names in it, and claimed the hero, who belongs to their legend. Johnson travelled through the Hebrides, asked for the manuscripts, never saw them, and wrote that these poems had probably never existed in any form other than the one that had been published. A committee concluded in 1805 that Ossianic poems existed and that the author had added to and reworked them greatly.
Who it is for
A rhythmic prose that imitates the biblical verse, in six cantos, translated into French as early as the eighteenth century.
Prizes and reception
Read throughout Europe for half a century, from Goethe to Napoleon, and the object of a long quarrel over its authenticity.
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