▁Mac ph erson ▁published ▁the ▁English - language ▁text ▁F rag ments ▁of ▁ancient ▁poetry , ▁collected ▁in ▁the ▁High lands ▁of ▁Scotland , ▁and ▁translated ▁from ▁the ▁G ael ic ▁or ▁Er se ▁language . ▁Later ▁that ▁year ▁Mac ph erson ▁announced ▁that ▁he ▁had ▁obtained ▁further ▁manuscript s ▁of ▁ancient ▁G ael ic ▁poetry ▁and ▁in ▁ 1 7 6 1 ▁reported ▁his ▁discovery ▁of ▁an ▁ep ic ▁on ▁the ▁subject ▁of ▁the ▁hero ▁F ing al , ▁said ▁to ▁be ▁the ▁work ▁of ▁a ▁blind ▁C elt ic ▁b ard ▁named ▁O ss ian . ▁Although ▁Mac ph erson ▁claimed ▁the ▁po ems ▁were ▁based ▁on ▁the ▁or ally ▁transm itted ▁tradition ▁of ▁G ael ic ▁fol kl ore , ▁he ▁could ▁not , ▁when ▁challeng ed , ▁produce ▁original ▁material ▁in ▁the ▁form ▁of ▁trans cri ptions ▁and ▁the ▁manuscript s ▁he ▁claimed ▁to ▁have , ▁to ▁silence ▁doub ters ▁like ▁Samuel ▁Johnson ▁who ▁believed ▁he ▁was ▁a ▁fra ud . ▁ ▁F ing al ▁achieved ▁international ▁success . ▁Napoleon ▁and ▁Thomas ▁Jefferson ▁were ▁great ▁adm ir ers ▁of ▁the ▁work . ▁It ▁was ▁proc laimed ▁a ▁C elt ic ▁equivalent ▁of ▁the ▁work ▁of ▁the ▁Class ical ▁po ets ▁and ▁its ▁unknown ▁author ▁li ken ed ▁to ▁H omer . ▁Many ▁writers ▁were ▁influenced ▁by ▁the ▁poem , ▁including ▁the ▁young ▁Walter ▁Scott , ▁and ▁several ▁pain ters ▁and ▁compos ers ▁dep icted ▁O ss ian ic ▁subjects . ▁ ▁The ▁opera ▁O ss ian , ▁ou ▁Les