John Clark (died 1807) was a Scottish land agent, Gaelic scholar and writer.
Life
Clark was a Highlander, who was drawn into the controversy over the
Ossian
Ossian (; Irish Gaelic/Scottish Gaelic: ''Oisean'') is the narrator and purported author of a cycle of epic poems published by the Scottish poet James Macpherson, originally as ''Fingal'' (1761) and ''Temora'' (1763), and later combined under t ...
poems written by
James Macpherson, by a chance meeting. He worked for two decades in Wales, in particular on developing the road system, and was the steward of
Viscount Hereford.
He died at
Pembroke in 1807. He was a Fellow of the
Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.
Works
Clark published:
*''Works of the Caledonian Bards'', Edinburgh, 1778, collection of supposed translations of Highland poems
*''An Answer to Mr. Shaw's Inquiry into the Authenticity of the Works of Ossian'', Edinburgh, 1781, against
William Shaw, who claimed that Clark had admitted to him that his ''Works'' was faked.
*In the ''
General View of Agriculture
The ''General View'' series of county surveys was an initiative of the Board of Agriculture of Great Britain, of the early 1790s. Many of these works had second editions, in the 1810s.
The Board, set up by Sir John Sinclair, was generally a pro ...
'' county surveys, reports on
Brecknockshire
, image_flag=
, HQ= Brecon
, Government= Brecknockshire County Council (1889-1974)
, Origin= Brycheiniog
, Status=
, Start= 1535
, End= ...
,
Radnorshire
, HQ = Presteigne
, Government = Radnorshire County Council (1889–1974) Radnorshire District Council (1974–1996)
, Origin =
, Status = historic county, administrative county
, Start ...
and
Herefordshire for the Board of Agriculture, each in 1794. The Herefordshire survey commented on the prevalence of
sunken lane
A sunken lane (also hollow way or holloway) is a road or track that is significantly lower than the land on either side, not formed by the (recent) engineering of a road cutting but possibly of much greater age.
Various mechanisms have been pro ...
s. For Radnorshire, Clark criticised the conservatism of its farmers.
*''The Nature and Value of Leasehold Property'', 1808.
Notes
Attribution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, John
Year of birth missing
1807 deaths
Scottish writers