A comprehensive historical survey traces Gaelic literary production from its ecclesiastical and oral origins through medieval composition to nineteenth-century developments. It examines Latin hymns and the work of early saints, ancient ballads, prose romances, and the activity of medieval and Jacobite bards. The study treats the debates around Macpherson’s Ossian, the rise of Anglo-Gaelic authorship, collections of popular song, and sacred poetry of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Chapters combine biographical sketches, manuscript and oral-tradition evidence, and commentary on the Celtic renaissance and contemporary Gaelic revival.