James Macpherson, Fragments of Ancient Poetry, Collected in the Highlands of Scotland

Dafydd Moore (University of Plymouth)
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Published anonymously by the respected Edinburgh house of Hamilton and Balfour in June of 1760, the 15 short poems or fragments of poems that made up the

Fragments

were presented as translations from Gaelic heroic verse. A second edition followed in September, lightly revised and with an additional poem inserted at XIII. They were the responsibility of James Macpherson, a 25 year old, classically educated school master from the Highlands of Scotland, aided and abetted by the

literati

of Edinburgh, one of whose number, Hugh Blair, provided an anonymous preface. Although they were presented as literal translations of extant ballads, only 2 (numbers VI and XIV) have been traced to existing poems, and while it is not altogether impossible that sources for others have been lost, theā€¦

992 words

Citation: Moore, Dafydd. "Fragments of Ancient Poetry, Collected in the Highlands of Scotland". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 06 October 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=9045, accessed 19 March 2024.]

9045 Fragments of Ancient Poetry, Collected in the Highlands of Scotland 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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