¹Bold, Valentina. "'Rude Bard of the North': James Macpherson and the Folklore of Democracy." The Journal of American Folklore 114.454 (2001): 464.
The quotation is from a letter Jefferson wrote to James Macpherson's cousin Charles in February, 1773, asking for copies of the original source material in order to study the language. Jefferson maintained his admiration for Macpherson all his life, even after the author's deceptions had become widely acknowledged and he had authored papers unfavorable to the cause of American independence. According to one author, Jefferson was intrigued by the "noble savage" in the Ossian tales. congruent with his romanticized vision of the aboriginal Americans. He also appreciated the Homeric and Virgilian resemblances in Ossian. (McLaughlin, Jack. "Jefferson, Poe, and Ossian." Eighteenth-Century Studies 26.4 (1993): 629+.)