Alexander Macpherson

“ This Arctic bird has never appeared in spring. S. parasiticus, on the other hand, has once appeared in spring or early summer; October is the month in which it normally occurs. Mergulus alle occurs fairly often between November and February. ”

“ But there is no material change in the numbers of migratory birds which appear in the neighbourhood of the Firth at different seasons of the year, and close study has enabled us to gauge of their movements with greater accuracy than would have been possible formerly. ”

“ Oxford men are not disloyal, but we do envy our sister University the memory of these early naturalists, who surely owed whatever was noblest in their characters to the wise and discriminating education of their Alma Mater. ”

“ As many of those who were attacked by this terrible malady had already succumbed to its ravages, Gesner took leave of his acquaintances, confided his personal wishes to his most intimate friend, Henry Bullinger, and prepared for the worst. His chief anxiety was to give as little trouble as possible. "Sic qui in vita multis commodus, molestus fuit nemini." ”

“ This species appears to be very rare in Western Britain north of the Solway Firth. It has been said that few, if any, Grey Plovers leave England in spring from any point north of the Humber basin; but this is a mistake. The fork of the Solway may act like a funnel, to catch up such individuals as have made their way up the Irish coasts, and desire to migrate in an easterly direction. ”

“ This last sentence disposes of the idea which Turner may himself have considered, that these white Herons represented one of the white species of Egrets, such as he had met with in Italy. Clearly, the white Herons which occurred in Britain must have been albinos or white varieties of the common bird, such as have been obtained in modern times. ”

“ If we limit our attention to the science of ornithology, we find that these men knew far more about the anatomy of birds than the majority of twentieth century naturalists. Not only did they observe the habits of wild birds, study their migrations, examine their crops to ascertain the nature of their food, measure their skins, investigate their changes of plumage, trace their distribution, and describe their eggs, but they paid profound attention to both the muscular system of birds and their osteology. They were nothing if not thorough in their devotion to our beloved science. ”

“ North European Forms.—Great interest attaches to certain species which appear to visit us from their breeding-grounds in the extreme north of Europe, east of the Varanger Fiord, including Cygnus bewicki, Bernicla brenta, Tringa minuta, Squatarola helvetica, Totanus fuscus. The last named is not obtained annually on the Solway Firth, but few seasons, if any, pass without its note being recognized. ”

“ He was interested by two species of birds which he found in England; for of course he visited England, like Clusius and other contemporary naturalists. The first species, which was new to Belon, was the Norfolk Plover; the other was the Cornish Chough. When he recrossed the Channel he searched for Norfolk Plover, and found that this species was common to France as well as Britain. The migration of birds constantly occupied his thoughts. ”

“ But though he could not gratify his natural ambition to scour Europe for specimens, he utilized other men to the same end, obtaining both specimens and information from correspondents in many lands. His bright genial nature won for Gesner the loyal support of all who had the privilege of knowing him. Aldrovandi, in his old age, wrote rather slightingly of Gesner, because he had arranged his history of birds alphabetically, as Prof. Newton has done in our own day. ”

“ Adults largely outnumber the cygnets, for Swans are very long-lived.
6. Pelagic Birds.—The wanderings of the various species of Laridæ ought, strictly speaking, to be recorded by some seafaring naturalist. Larus minutus occurs in almost every month in the vicinity of the Solway Firth. ”

“ That the revival of learning trained the youth of this country to concentrate their thoughts upon the study of dead languages is, of course, an obvious commonplace; it would be a grievous mistake to infer from this circumstance that a spirit of higher research was wholly absent from the minds of the ambitious youths who gathered together at Cambridge to acquaint themselves with the truths of philosophy. Any such erroneous surmise is disproved by the work accomplished by William Turner, to whom the title of "Father of British Zoology" may fairly be applied. ”

“ But Turner does not appear to have confined his field work to the neighbourhood of Cambridge. If he was eager to watch the Marsh Harrier or "Balbushard" (Cinclus æruginosus) quartering the marshes of Ely in quest of Duck or Coot, assuredly he was no less pleased to visit the Cormorants which nested on the lofty trees also occupied by a Norfolk Hernery.
But Turner was a man of strong religious convictions, and he lived in times which encouraged strife. Good naturalist as he was, he allowed his better judgment to be overpowered by sectarian bitterness, and for a time he lost his liberty. ”

“ When it did appear, it failed to add a single new fact to the science which it was supposed to further, for Wotton candidly disclaims any share of original work. He was a compiler, like Goldsmith, and he really deserves no more credit than the author of 'Animated Nature.' The modern science of zoology owes its first conception to the genius of a galaxy of talents, of which Turner, Belon, Gesner, and Aldrovandi were the brightest ornaments, though Rondelet and Salviani accomplished much for ichthyology. ”

“ For such is the audacity of our Kites, that they dare to snatch bread from children, fish from women, and handkerchiefs from off hedges and out of men's hands. They are accustomed to carry off caps from off men's heads when they are building their nests."
Another admirable specimen of Turner's discriminating skill may be found in his lucid refutation of the absurd theory that the Robin (Erithacus rubecula) and the Common Redstart (Ruticilla phœnicurus) did not represent distinct species, but were in fact identical. ”

“ Turner, Belon, and Gesner were all poor men, who fought their way to the front by sheer pluck and indomitable industry. Turner was born beside a Morpeth tannery about 1507; Pierre Belon belonged to some obscure household in the humble hamlet of Soulettiere, in Maine, and seems to have been about ten years junior to Turner. Conrad Gesner, a beautiful character, was born and bred in the old town of Zurich. He was born on the 26th of March, 1516. Ursus and Barbara Gesner, his parents, were plain working people. They had a large family to support upon a very meagre pittance. ”

“ Whatever shortcomings may be detected in the writings of William Turner, the man himself is worthy of our homage, not only as the first sturdy Englishman who essayed to study our insular fauna in a spirit of intelligent research, but also because, like Dr. ”

“ Ornithologists have their share of "hopes deferred," and the writer has to own to many disappointments. Though it is believed that Anthus cervinus has twice occurred in the neighbourhood of the Firth in spring plumage, no specimen has ever been secured. A Black-throated Wheatear of some description has visited the vicinity of the Solway Firth in three different springs, but no final proof of its identity has been obtained. Several other species are still excluded from the ornis of this region, because their identification, in spite of much labour, is still lacking. ”

“ Miss Macpherson was very tall and exceedingly gaunt. Her countenance was as bleak as a wind-swept hillside, and there was a stony glare in her grey eyes which seemed to turn the very atmosphere to frost. Her figure was all points and angles—jutting out where her shoulders rose towards her neck, and seeming to extend indefinitely into her arms. Rob knew those long, sinewy arms with their thin, gnarled hands ever ready to swoop. Miss Macpherson's customary attitude was like that of a great bird of prey, mightily beaked and clawed, pouncing swiftly, and rising again to sit and watch upon a crag. ”

“ The second son, Alexander Stewart Herschel (1836-1907) , Professor at Durham College, devoted considerable attention to meteoric astronomy, while the younger son, Colonel John Herschel, in his earlier days undertook a spectroscopic examination of southern nebulæ. The names of a grand-daughter and of a great grandson of Sir William Herschel—Miss Francesca Herschel and Rev. J. C. W. Herschel—appear on the roll of Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society, to testify that the family is still distinguished by love of the oldest of the sciences. ”

“ Macpherson shook and shrunk in his presence.
“They come! they come!” exclaimed the seer—“the wild, the dreadful, the undefinable, the unutterable, the shadowy forms and seemings of things and actions to be! They crowd upon me in powers and numbers unendurable, inconceivable! Words never formed by human breath sound within my heart, and tell of things that mortal tongue may never utter. Eyes, clear, cold, dead, bright, and chill as winter moonshine, look into my soul, and fill it with all their lucid meanings! ”

“ He's wise that enjoys the passing hour—
He's a fool that thinks of the morrow!"
exclaimed Macpherson, slapping his friend jocosely on the shoulder. "Why man, Ellen Martin I must see, and Ellen Martin I will see, let the risk be what it may—ay, although there were a halter dangling on every tree between this and Banff, and every noose were gaping for me."
"Then, at least, allow three or four of us to accompany you, Macpherson, in case of accidents," said Eneas.
"No, no; not one, Eneas," replied Macpherson—"no life shall be perilled in this cause but my own. ”

“ He knew that Macpherson counted not his life his own, nor any of the things that he possessed.150 Year by year he had felt the subtle influence deepening, and had seen the spirit burning clearer in the eyes, so that to meet him—to the ignorant, simple shepherd—was like meeting an angel. In Macpherson he saw and knew a man in the very prime of manhood, clever, as those said who knew best, and with the world before him; who yet could let the world go by ”

“ In nature every thing is distinct, yet nothing defined into absolute independant singleness. In Macpherson's work it is exactly the reverse; every thing (that is not stolen) is in this manner defined, insulated, dislocated, deadened,—yet nothing distinct. It will always be so when words are substituted for things. To say that the characters never could exist, that the manners are impossible, and that a dream has more substance than the whole state of society, as there depicted, is doing nothing more than pronouncing a censure which Macpherson defied ”

“ You surely do not calculate on the risk you run, in these desperate adventures of yours, of falling into the hands of the sheriff. You are well known, and it is next to a miracle that you escape."
"No danger, Eneas, none at all man," replied Macpherson, in the confidence of his own prowess, and not a little perhaps, in that of his agility. "I have done more daring things in my day on far less inducement; and," he added, proudly, "give me fair play, Eneas, my sword in my hand, and not any six men in Banff will take James Macpherson alive." ”

“ You know that we love you, Macpherson, for yours is the generous and open hand—yours is the hand that was never raised in anger against the unoffending or the helpless, and never closed in hard-heartedness against the needy."
"No, thank God," replied the person thus eulogized—"much evil as I have done, the shedding of blood is no part of it. Personal injury I have never yet done to any man, nor to any man shall I ever do it, unless in self-defence. Neither can the poor ever say they asked from me in vain. But, my friends," went on the speaker, "this is but a melancholy strain. ”

“ The old soldier looked at him with a friendly glance, as he bent down to examine the lock of his pistol. Most men were drawn towards Gervase Orme. His frankness, his courage, and his ready sympathy had no touch of affectation, while his handsome face and stalwart presence had made him many friends; but Macpherson, who had been on terms of intimacy with few for years, had come to look upon him as a father looks on a son. ”

“ Webster?'
'It is the one thing I am interested in,' I replied; 'but unfortunately they often run into a lot of money.'
'That is true,' said Macpherson sympathetically, 'and I have here three books, one of which is an exemplification of what you say. ”

“ To long for a thing, with Tom Echalaz, was as a rule to attain it rather sooner than later, and he at once began making his way out with plenty of pluck and very little caution, and finally landed with his rod, much wetter than he cared to notice, and tried again. He turned presently, when even this new delight was beginning to pall, to see what Macpherson was doing. ”

“ Macpherson then withdrew from the controversy, and declined further requests to publish the originals on the plea of expense or want of leisure. He never seriously exerted himself to rebut the charge of forgery.
In his ‘Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland’ (1775) Johnson gave, as the result of local investigation, an opinion strongly adverse to Macpherson's honesty. He denied the existence of any originals; declared Macpherson's stubborn audacity to be the last refuge of guilt; and belief in Macpherson to flow from a mistaken patriotism. ”

“ Tell her that Moran of the Wild has that to reveal to her which concerns her, and thee, too, deeply. And mark me, Chief! unless thou ceasest to pursue the feuds of thy fathers, thy course will be brief, and bloody will be its close.” Thus saying, he turned and feebly dragged his spent and tottering form into the dark and awe-inspiring cave.
Stunned and bewildered, incapable of thought or reflection, and staggering like one who walks in his sleep, Macpherson wandered back towards Castle Feracht. ”