Note 40 — THE BOOK OF THE DEAN OF LISMORE.

The name of this poet has given rise to some controversy between the Scotch and Irish Gael. By the latter it is pronounced Oisìn, the accent falling on the last syllable; by the former it is pronounced Ossian, the accent falling on the first. Dean M’Gregor spells the word sometimes Ossan, but usually Ossin. It is manifest from the use of the ss that he intends the accent to fall upon the first syllable, according to the Scottish mode. The Scottish pronunciation would appear to have been the same in his days as now. This form of the word we have retained in our translation. We do not mean to institute any comparison between the Irish and Scottish mode. The difference clearly arises from the peculiarity of each dialect, the Irish almost uniformly, in words of two syllables, laying the accent on the last, and the Scottish upon the first syllable.