In 1760, Macpherson visited North Uist and met with John MacCodrum, the official Bard to the Chief of Clan MacDonald of Sleat. As a result of their encounter, MacCodrum made, according to John Lorne Campbell, "a brief appearance in the Ossianic controversy which is not without it's humorous side." When Macpherson met MacCodrum, he asked, ""A bheil dad agaibh air an Fheinne?"" Macpherson believed himself to have asked, "Do you know anything of the Fianna?" He had actually said, however, "Do the Fianna owe you anything?"