| Description | Alexander apologises for not writing in reply to his correspondent's letter of November 1796, hoping to use the Edinburgh carrier. He gives thanks for a present of a Gaelic testament. Stuart will be curious about what progress has been made in 'Gaelic operations'. Robertson of Kirkmichael published a prospectus for his dictionary some time ago. He bungled this and has continued to make additions of materials, now copious, but he is not in a hurry to publish. Alexander has continued his own notes on Gaelic grammar, but thought it unreasonable to send them to Stuart, as he was still working in his scripture translation. He explains his effort to obtain information on the northern dialect. He sent material to Inverness nine months ago, but they have not been returned yet, and he now doubts if there will be any useful remarks from that quarter. Mr. T. Fleming of Kirkaldy has his early sheets on pronunciation and orthography and he gives an outline of the other pages he has composed. He wishes to act in concert with Stuart, supporting his work. He asks if there is any possibility that a Gaelic dictionary will be produced by Stuart, and if he has heard anything more of Fletcher's dictionary. |