Talk:James Macpherson

Untitled
It would be helpful to cite sources for the judgments in the following passage. In particular, the claim that Macpherson's work did more than any other to bring about the romantic movement is, at best, highly debatable.

"But apart from the doubtful morality of his transactions he must still be regarded as one of the great Scottish writers. The varied sources of his work and its worthlessness as a transcript of actual Celtic poems do not alter the fact that he produced a work of art which by its deep appreciation of natural beauty and the melancholy tenderness of its treatment of the ancient legend did more than any single work to bring about the romantic movement in European, and especially in German, literature." —Preceding unsigned comment added by Wikignomon (talk • contribs) 06:30, 19 October 2008 (UTC)


 * That text is from the 1911 EB, link cited on the page. AllyD (talk) 19:11, 18 January 2009 (UTC)

impartiality?
Quoting from the article "Lost in the controversy is the fact that many critics of Ossian's legitimacy praised MacPherson's talent for Gaelic poetry", first this needs citations and second, it ignores the introduction to the online version which points out that while a number of Gaelic speakers said they knew MacPherson's work from their youth, none of them could quote it, and also tells a story of a gaff in Gaelic that MacPherson made which was turned against him by the person he was talking to. Patrij (talk) 20:20, 21 April 2009 (UTC)


 * NZZ Folio 10/93 - Thema: Fälschungen Ossian - ein Irrstern, James Macpherson und sein "keltisches Epos".  Werner Morlang. According this source,it was all in all a hoax and Macpherson neither gifted nor having much talent or knowledge of gaelic poetry. Bakulan (talk) 12:16, 21 November 2010 (UTC)

While MacPherson indeed made up most of what he published as Ossian's work, he did base some of it on genuine Gaelic poetry as Derek Thomson's 'The Gaelic Sources of MacPherson's Ossian' shows. It's pretty much considered the definitive investigation into the providence of the poetry so it's very very strsnge thst this article doesn't mention it. He was a fraud, but he definitely was a native speaker, and he definitely had a sound knowledge of the poetry. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 188.222.217.53 (talk) 13:35, 11 April 2011 (UTC)

Verify ties to India?
Macpherson really was the colonial secretary in British West Florida. But I am skeptical of the claim that he was "London agent" to the Nawab of Arcot. This looks like a confusion between James Macpherson and Sir John Macpherson. — ℜob C. alias &Agrave;LAROB  15:39, 12 May 2012 (UTC)

The source for the claim (from the EB) that Ossian Macpherson himself was agent for the Nawab of Arcot would appear to be RG Thorne's article in the History of Parliament. Doesn't rule out an involvement somewhere of Sir John MacPherson, who was a cousin - and not just in the loose Highland sense. Thorne also edited the volume of the history of Parliament in which this appears. It's not unknown for folk to have been involved in both India and the Americas - big fortunes could be made out of it. When the Directors of Inverness Royal Academy approached him for support for the appointment of a teacher of Gaelic before the opening in 1792, Ossian Macpherson did not reply, though Thorne, on what evidence I don't know, suggests he was a pupil of the Academy's predecessor, the Inverness Grammar School. They got a more friendly, but top-down response from his cousin Sir John, a great giver of advice, who also makes no mention of any connection with the Grammar School.Delahays (talk) 16:21, 28 July 2014 (UTC)

Assessment comment
Substituted at 19:27, 29 April 2016 (UTC)

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"He was the first Scottish poet to gain an international reputation."
The article opens with this statement: He was the first Scottish poet to gain an international reputation. It's flagged as needing a source since 2018. It's time for that sentence to go. Anybody who wants to add it back in can do so with a source. Until then? Deleted. -Gohst (talk) 09:02, 8 January 2022 (UTC)

English
The author went to a junk shop in Bridport. He noticed a roll top desk. 61.3.46.248 (talk) 13:10, 5 September 2022 (UTC)