John Macpherson (minister)
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John Macpherson (1710–1765) was a Scottish minister and antiquarian.


Life

The son of Dugald Macpherson, minister at
Duirinish, Skye Duirinish () is a peninsula and civil parish on the island of Skye in Scotland. It is situated in the north west between Loch Dunvegan and Loch Bracadale. Geography Skye's shape defies description: W. H. Murray wrote that "Skye is long, ...
, he studied classics at
Aberdeen University The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bishop of Aberdeen and Chancellor of Scotland, petitioned Pope Al ...
, graduating M.A. 1728, and D.D. 1761. He was minister of
Barra Barra (; or ; ) is an island in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland, and the second southernmost inhabited island there, after the adjacent island of Vatersay to which it is connected by the Vatersay Causeway. In 2011, the population was 1,174. ...
in the
Outer Hebrides The Outer Hebrides ( ) or Western Isles ( , or ), sometimes known as the Long Isle or Long Island (), is an Archipelago, island chain off the west coast of mainland Scotland. It is the longest archipelago in the British Isles. The islan ...
, 1734 to 1742, and of
Sleat Sleat ( ) is a peninsula and civil parish on the island of Skye in the Highland council area of Scotland, known as "the garden of Skye". It is the home of the clan '' MacDonald of Sleat''. The name comes from the Scottish Gaelic , which in tur ...
on Skye, from 1742 to 1765.


Works

Macpherson published ''Critical Dissertations on the Origin, Antiquities, Language, Government, Manners, Religion of the Ancient Caledonians, their Posterity, the Picts, and the British and Irish Scots'', London, 1768. This work on the Ossian controversy upheld the authenticity of the poems attributed to
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 ...
. Though not closely related,
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 ...
, author of "
The Works of 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'' (1763), and later combined under ...
" (1765), and John Macpherson knew each other well. It has been suggested that they were complicit in the creation of the works. John Macpherson's "Ancient Caledonians" were from
Gaul Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...
, ancestors of the Picts, Scots and Irish, a theory also adopted by James Macpherson. ''Critical Dissertations'' also attacked contemporary historians of Scotland, particularly William Robertson. Macpherson claimed to have heard a recitation of Ossianic verse by a Gaelic bard; the poet in question has been identified, tentatively, as Dòmhnall MacMhuirich (fl. 1707–1740s), last representative of the MacMhuirich bardic family. Macpherson paraphrased the ''
Song of Moses The Song of Moses is the poem which appears in Deuteronomy of the Hebrew Bible, which according to the Bible was delivered just prior to Moses' death on Mount Nebo. Sometimes the Song is referred to as Deuteronomy 32, despite the fact that Deute ...
'' in Latin verse, published in ''
The Scots Magazine ''The Scots Magazine'' is a magazine containing articles on subjects of Scottish interest. It claims to be the oldest magazine in the world still in publication, although there have been several gaps in its publication history. It has reported on ...
''. In the debate on
second sight Extrasensory perception (ESP), also known as a sixth sense, or cryptaesthesia, is a claimed paranormal ability pertaining to reception of information not gained through the recognized physical senses, but sensed with the mind. The term was ado ...
, with a cousin, Martin Macpherson of Golspie, he attacked "Theophilus Isolanus", pseudonymous author of a treatise on the topic, real name Donald Macleod.


Family

Macpherson married Janet, daughter of Donald Macleod of Bernera. Their elder son Martin Macpherson (1743–1812), succeeded his father at Sleat, and was visited by
Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson ( – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...
.
Sir John Macpherson, 1st Baronet Sir John Macpherson, 1st Baronet (1745 – 12 January 1821), was a British administrator in India. He was the acting Governor-General of Bengal from 1785 to 1786. Early life Macpherson was born in 1745 at Sleat in the Isle of Skye, where ...
was the younger son.


Notes

Attribution (in the article about his son) {{DEFAULTSORT:Macpherson, John 18th-century ministers of the Church of Scotland 18th-century Scottish Presbyterian ministers 1710 births 1765 deaths 18th-century Scottish translators 18th-century Scottish male writers