John Clark (died 1807) was a Scottish land agent, Gaelic scholar and writer.

Life

Clark was a Highlander, who was drawn into the controversy over the

Ossian Ossian (; Irish Gaelic/Scottish Gaelic: ''Oisean'') is the narrator and purported author of a cycle of epic poems published by the Scottish poet James Macpherson, originally as ''Fingal'' (1761) and ''Temora (poem), Temora'' (1763), and later c ...

poems written by

James Macpherson James Macpherson ( Gaelic: ''Seumas MacMhuirich'' or ''Seumas Mac a' Phearsain''; 27 October 1736 – 17 February 1796) was a Scottish writer, poet, literary collector, and politician. He is known for the Ossian cycle of epic poems, which he ...

, by a chance meeting. He worked for two decades in Wales, in particular on developing the road system, and was the steward of

Viscount Hereford Viscount Hereford is the oldest extant viscountcy in the Peerage of England, making the holder the Premier Viscount of England. The title was created in 1550 for Walter Devereux, 10th Baron Ferrers of Chartley. History The Devereux () fam ...

. He died at Pembroke in 1807. He was a Fellow of the

Society of Antiquaries of Scotland The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland is the senior antiquarian body of Scotland, with its headquarters in the National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh. The Society's aim is to promote the cultural heritage of Scotland. The usu ...

Works

Clark published: *''Works of the Caledonian Bards'', Edinburgh, 1778, collection of supposed translations of Highland poems *''An Answer to Mr. Shaw's Inquiry into the Authenticity of the Works of Ossian'', Edinburgh, 1781, against William Shaw, who claimed that Clark had admitted to him that his ''Works'' was faked. *In the ''

General View of Agriculture The ''General View'' series of county surveys was an initiative of the Board of Agriculture of Great Britain, of the early 1790s. Many of these works had second editions in the 1810s. The Board, set up by Sir John Sinclair, was generally a propo ...

'' county surveys, reports on

Brecknockshire Brecknockshire ( or ), also known as the County of Brecknock, Breconshire, or the County of Brecon, was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It was created in 1 ...

Radnorshire Radnorshire () was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974, later becoming a Districts of Wales, district of Powys from 1974 to 1996. It covered a sparsely populat ...

and

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

for the Board of Agriculture, each in 1794. The Herefordshire survey commented on the prevalence of

sunken lane A sunken lane (also hollow way or holloway) is a road or track that is significantly lower than the land on either side, not formed by the (recent) engineering of a road cutting but possibly of much greater age. Holloways may have been formed i ...

s. For Radnorshire, Clark criticised the conservatism of its farmers. *''The Nature and Value of Leasehold Property'', 1808.

Notes

Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, John Year of birth missing 1807 deaths Scottish writers Land agents