SOURCE: "Celts, Greeks, and Germans: Macpherson's Ossian and the Celtic Epic," in 1650-1850: Ideas, Aesthetics, and Inquiries in the Early Modern Era, Vol. 1, edited by Kevin J. Cope, AMS Press, 1994, pp. 3-22.

Here, Weinbrot argues that eighteenth-century British readers assessed their Greek, German, and Celtic cultural inheritances in the light of defining their national identity. Weinbrot states that during this time, when both Greek and German literature were being re-evaluated and found too violent, Macpherson's Ossian presented a more appealing literary hero.

In 1787 John Pinkerton laments that "this may be called the Celtic Century, for all Europe has been inundated with nonsense about the Celts."¹ Whether sense or nonsense Celtomania reflects a gradual change in British attitudes towards the classical south, the Continent's Germanic north, and Britain's Scottish north. Such changes are part of the century-long battle between the Ancients and the Moderns and reflect even longer efforts...