James McPherson

McPherson, James (Macpherson, James) (1736-1796), Scottish poet and historian. Born October 27, 1736 in Rutvene, Inverness. After graduating from Kings College in Aberdeen, where he began to write poetry, McPherson became a schoolteacher in his native town. In 1758 he published a poem, "Highlander" (The Highlander), . but the Scottish literary circles was more interested in the historical past of the country, . and in 1760 he published "Fragments of ancient poetry, . collected in the Highlands of Scotland "(Fragments of Ancient Poetry Collected in the Highlands of Scotland), . allegedly transferred to them from gaelskogo language,
. At the signature sheets collected for the money McPherson made a trip to the Highlands for new materials and, . he said, . discovered heroic poem "Fingal" (Fingal, . 1762) and "Temora" (Temora, . 1763), . presumably created by the Irish singer Ossian in 3,
.

So unlike the poetry of the first half of the 18. Ossian's poems, with their whimsical size, tone of melancholy and sentimental, vague cult of Wildlife, acquired immense popularity in Europe and America. Charter ward off accusations of a hoax, McPherson two years went to America. Returning, he served in London, was a member of parliament. His historical works of little value, as Ossian's poems have created one of the most famous literary controversy and became a harbinger of romanticism.

McPherson died in Rutvene February 17, 1796.