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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Ossian
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The Scottish name for the semi-legendary Irish poet, Oisin, son of the warrior hero Finn McCool. The name became widely known after the success of Fingal, an Ancient Epic Poem composed by Ossian, published in 1762 by James *Macpherson, who presented it as a translation of an ancient Gaelic manuscript. It was proved later to be entirely his own work, apart from a few scraps of old ballads. It was he who had turned Ireland's warrior, Finn, into a Scottish ruler, Fingal. But the Celtic twilight imagined by Macpherson chimed perfectly with the beginnings of the *Romantic movement, and his invention led to such lasting Scottish features as *Fingal's Cave. Within a few years there followed the similar fabrications of *Chatterton.
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