of subject and style, as well as of the manners described in the poems, is of itself strong evidence that they were the production of one man. A peculiarity of the bardic traditions, too, makes the conclusion more certain. By the Highland senachies, as may be noticed in the Dean of Lisinore's Book, the name of the composer was in most cases scrupulously preserved along with his work. The fact remains besides, that in many of the poems Ossian unmistakably alludes to himself. There can be little doubt, therefore, of the single authorship. On the other hand, there is no equal reason to suppose that all the extant poems of Ossian were collected and included by Macpherson. Other poems, indeed, have been published by various antiquaries, which possess strong claims to attention. Of such, for instance, are "The Death of Gaul," already referred to, and other compositions printed by Dr. Smith of Campbelltown in his Galic Antiquities. These, however, do not add materially to the poems preserved by Macpherson, and it is therefore probable that his collection presents with fair completeness the best of Ossian's works.
The value of the Ossianic remains for the purposes of history depends very much upon the possibility of fixing the date of their composition. The translator and editors of the poems, therefore, have sought to make this clear.
