The author, who was a barrister, and of an ancient and illustrious Highland family in Islay, spent twelve years from 1859 collecting folk-lore and poetry as opportunity offered throughout the Highlands, a work in which he was assisted by various contributors and coadjutors. His first book, entitled _Popular Tales of the West Highlands_, orally collected, was published in Edinburgh in 1862. There are four volumes, and they contain mainly prose stories, such as were wont to be repeated round the firesides in the Highland Ceilidh in days of yore. Yet, commingled with the Sgeulachdan, are to be found Ossianic fragments which had filtered down by oral tradition. This publication, however, was but a stepping-stone to the author’s real _magnum opus_, the _Leabhar na Feinne_. For it, he collected about 54,000 lines of heroic poetry, and these it will be observed are independent of the Irish MSS., and almost of the Scottish MSS. written in the Irish character before the year 1512. With regard to the latter he says, “To publish them is more than I am able to do. Where extracts have been made I have quoted a few passages to show what the language is like, and how these ancient writings correspond to later writings.” Since in many cases he had two or more versions of the same ballad, and in some cases five or six, it was his original intention to collate and make one perfect copy. This idea he had ultimately to abandon, and wisely followed the plan of printing the oldest, with selections from later versions. Of the first Ossianic fragment he attempted to collate from two versions, namely, Garbh Mac Stairn, he says, “not a line of Macpherson’s Gaelic was in either version, but the story seemed to be the foundation of the first book of Fingal, and therefore a literary curiosity.” It is significant that when Campbell issued his first book he favoured the authenticity of Macpherson’s _Ossian_, but by the time _Leabhar na Feinne_ appeared he was strong the other way. His early attitude he attributed to “unformed opinions affected by old beliefs.” The ballads of _Leabhar na Feinne_ are arranged under nine heads, according to their chronological sequence, as follows:— I. The Story of Cuchulinn. II. The Story of Deirdre. III. The Story of Fraoch. IV. The Story of Fionn and the Feinn, including the Norse Ballads. V. Parodies. VI. Later Heroic Ballads. VII. Mythical Ballads. VIII. Poems like Macpherson’s _Ossian_. IX. Pope’s collection of ten Ballads.