Poet James Macpherson was born - On this day in Scottish history

Scottish poet James Macpherson was born at Ruthven on 27 October, 1736. Macpherson was educated at King's College in Aberdeen before moving to Marischal college. He gained fame through his translations of early Gaelic poems and was sponsored by Dr Hugh Blair, who raised money to send Macpherson on a research trip to the Highlands and islands to collect the poems from those who had memorised them. The work was published as Fragments of Ancient Poetry Collected in the Highlands of Scotland.

His success was shortlived however, as he was accused of composing some of these himself, an incident which became known as the Ossian controversy. Undaunted, he continued to write and produced several histories, including Original Papers, containing the Secret History of Great Britain from the Restoration to the Accession of the House of Hanover.