Ossian

The poet Ossian was considered a Scottish Homer when James Macpherson translated his lost work “Fingal” in 1761. Ossian spread across Europe and was the favorite author of Napoleon. There was just one problem: It was eventually revealed that Ossian was an invention of Macpherson and was not Scotland’s lost bard.

Image: “Fingal: An Ancient Epic Poem” by “Ossian” (1762 edition). From the National Library of Scotland