Celtic MSS. in relation to the Macpherson fraud / With a review of Professor Freeman's criticism of [P.B. Du Chaillu's] "The Viking Age," by the author of "Celticism a myth"

BY THE AUTHOR OF
“CELTICISM A MYTH.”
“I thought your book an imposture. I think it an imposture still.” —Dr. Johnson.
“The purposeless tortuosities of Celtic falsehood, and its most subtile manifestations.”— Weekly Scotsman.
“The received accounts of the Saxon immigration, and subsequent fortunes, and ultimate settlement, are devoid of historical truth in every detail.”—J. M. Kemble.
“And, armed in proof, the gauntlet cast at once
To Scotch marauder, and to Southern dunce.”—Byron.
LONDON: E. W. ALLEN, 4, AVE MARIA LANE.
MDCCCXC.
LONDON PRINTED AT THE COURTS OF JUSTICE PRINTING WORKS BY DIPROSE, BATEMAN AND CO.
That portion of this tractate which relates to Celtic manuscripts and the doings of Macpherson, was transmitted to the Scotsman newspaper, in reply to an article by Professor Mackinnon which appeared in that journal. My communication was however returned by the editor on the plea that he could not find room for its insertion. It was perhaps too much to expect that a journal owned by one of the secretaries of a Society, which had engaged the services of the Celtic Professor at Oxford, to uphold what I call the Celtic myth, should open its columns to one inimical to Macpherson, and utterly sceptical in regard to his pretended translation. Mr. Mackinnon’s enumeration seems a vindication of the antiquity of Celtic MSS. in general, and was no doubt also projected “as a basis for more extended collaboration.”
It occurred to me that my remarks on the Ossian MSS. might with advantage be incorporated with some notice of Professor Freeman’s criticism of “The Viking Age,” both tending in the same direction. One wipes out the Celts as the pioneers of civilization, the other explodes the Saxons as a race distinct from the Scandinavians. With this in view I have been aiming for some time past, to put my thoughts in train for publication, but want of time has always stood in the way.