James Macpherson

Dafydd Moore (University of Plymouth)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.3: Scottish Writing and Culture, 400-present.
Vol. editors: Kate Ash-Irisarri (University of Edinburgh), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Gina Lyle (University of York), J. Derrick McClure (University of Aberdeen), Andrew Radford (University of Glasgow)

Dates

Born 27 Oct 1736
Died 17 Feb 1796
Activity 1758-1779

Places

Born in Scotland
Active in Scotland

Activities

Primary

Antiquarian/ Collector
Poet

Other

Historian / Chronicler
Polemicist
Political writer
Politician
Translator

Resources

Macpherson's Works

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James Macpherson (1736-1796) was born at Ruthven in Badenoch, Scotland. Known primarily as the author, editor or forger of

The Poems of Ossian

, he also had an eventful career in letters and politics. Born into an illegitimate branch of the Macphersons of Cluny (James' father was the illegitimate older brother of the then clan chief Ewan Macpherson of Cluny), Macpherson spent a tumultuous childhood in the Highlands, and may well (though the evidence is not certain) have witnessed some violent events during the final Jacobite rising of 1745 when the Macphersons of Cluny were ‘Out' for the Prince. He was certainly brought up in a Gaeltachd undergoing traumatic change. He was educated first at King's, then Marschal College Aberdeen, where he studied under the philosopher Alexander Gerrard…

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994 words

Citation: Moore, Dafydd. "James Macpherson". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 06 October 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=2869, accessed 21 November 2024.]