James Macpherson

James Macpherson ( born October 27, 1736, in Ruthven, Highland, † February 17, 1796 ) was a Scottish writer and politician.

Life

Macpherson studied in 1753 at King's College in Aberdeen and then at the University of Edinburgh. Already at this time he wrote some poems; only a few of which were published as The Highlander from the year 1758.

He became famous mainly through the Fragments of Ancient Poetry, issued in 1760 by Hugh Blair and became very famous as the work of Ossian Gaelic singer. These works were supposedly recording a very old Gaelic oral tradition, which he had collected in Scotland. In reality, Macpherson had written the works themselves. Later he also published as alleged omissions Fingal, at Ancient Epic Poem in Six Books ( 1761), Temora ( 1763) and The Works of Ossian ( 1765 ). Soon, the collections have been translated into other European languages ​​and included euphoric everywhere. Through his enthusiasm for the folklore of the ancestors and the natural man Macpherson was next to Edward Young and Thomas Gray one of the founding fathers of English Romanticism. Only much later did the works of Macpherson were recognized as a forgery (see also Keltomanie ).

In 1780, Macpherson was a member of the British Parliament, which he remained until his death.

Works

• The poems of Ossian 's an old Celtic heroes and bards / [ ... by Harold Major. ] - Dusseldorf, 1775 Digitized edition of the University and State Library Dusseldorf.
• Newly - discovered poems of Ossian / [ James Macpherson ]. Translated by Edmund Harold. - Dusseldorf: . Dänzer, 1798 Digitized edition of the University and State Library Dusseldorf