Ossian

Ossian was the name given to the fictional bard created by James Macpherson. He published a cycle of supposed epic Gallic poems in 1760. The date is significant.

When you think about it - we all have a tribal past which still exerts some influence on us. Personally I am from the county of Sussex in southern England. Sussex is a contraction of South Saxons. I could just about claim therefore that I was descended in some way from the Saxon warriors who invaded Britain in the fifth century sweeping away the Roman Empire. It is a nice thought, but 15 centuries separate me from this heritage so it isn't really that great a legacy. Other people in the world are closer to their tribal origins but there aren't many people in Western Europe or America who really have strong links to whatever tribe they come from, except native Americans of course.

But there is one part of the British Isles where the tribal past is a lot closer. In the Highlands of Scotland society was effectively tribal well into the era for which we have good records. The Scottish lowlands developed socially and economically pretty much in line with England. In the seventeenth century the lowland Scots were protestant, spoke English and traded via the medium of money. If you were to turn up in Edinburgh in 1650, although you would miss motor cars and broadband, you wouldn't feel that out of place. You could make yourself understood and you would have a pretty good idea of what was going on and how to fit in. With some cash in your pocket you would get by just fine.

If you were to find yourself in the Highlands at the same period you would be in a world that was totally alien. The language would be gallic and you would walk miles before you found an English speaker. You would also find that society was organised into tribes, or as the locals would call them, clans. These were the basis of all social transactions and as an outsider to the clan system your reception would be completely arbitary. You might be welcomed as an honoured guest. But you would be more likely to be robbed. Robbery would be regarded not as a crime but as a respectable way to earn a living. The clan chief would have powers over and above that of any elected official you have ever come across.

The breakdown of the clan system in the Highlands is well documented. The clans got caught up in in the internal politics of England. The Stuart dynasty had been deposed from the throne of England as a result of political, religious and economic upheavals. Their support was very thin in England itself, but it was just conceivable that with support in catholic Ireland and the catholic Highlands, and a bit of help from the then global superpower France the Stuart dynasty could just about hope to make a comeback. Matters came to a head in 1745. Bonnie Prince Charlie, the heir to the Stuart inheritance, raised his standard in the Highlands and the clans flocked to support him. He was nowhere near as welcome in the lowlands, where despite their Scottish roots the Stuarts were even less popular than in England.

At first the clansmen, who individually were superb fighters, seemed to have it their way. They beat all the forces sent against them and got as far south as Derby, only 130 miles from London. But after this giddy initial success the advantages of an organised society with greater resources began to tell. The British army started to advance and before long the clansmen had been pushed back to their home country. Their bravery was no match for the well supplied and equipped regular army equipped with canons and plenty of bullets. The final showdown came at Culloden. It was an heroic fight. The British general, the Duke of Cumberland, at one point had to take off his wig and shake out the bullets. But at the end of the day the power of the clans was broken forever. The British moved in and imposed order on the wild territory that was so different to the rest of the kingdom. Gallic was surpressed. The tartan was outlawed. The rule of law arrived for the first time. Many of the people went. They have never come back. In some parts of the highlands population density is lower now than it would have been in 1745. The last tribes had gone from the British Isles.

But then a strange thing happened. Once the clansmen were gone and no longer a threat to the settled society of the Scottish lowlands a strange transformation took place. They became romanticised and the subject of a fascination they never exerted in their heyday. One of the first examples of this was Macpherson's amazing claim to have translated a cycle of epic poems from the Gallic. Twenty years before the clans were ignored at best, and most likely treated as potential cut-throats. By 1860 there was a market for their poetry. It still seems to me a great shame that they are a scam. I would love to have some genuine folk tales from Scotland. It seems that Macpherson was trying to give Scotland a set of myths to replace the ones that he thought had been lost. This really does sound like Tolkien, who explicitly said that he had set out to create a "mythology for England". Like Tolkien's, Macpherson was incredibly popular all around the World with such notable fans as Goethe and Napoleon. Given the parallels it is well worth having a closer look at Ossian. Was this one of Tolkien's sources for his ideas?