Similarly to Keats, more than two hundred years after dying of tuberculosis while still in his twenties, Ross remains a highly important and admired figure in Scottish Gaelic literature and is considered one of the greatest poets and writers in the history of the language.
[3] Ross' most famous poems include "Soraidh bhuan do'n t-Suaithneas Bhàn" ("Farewell to the White Cockade"), an iconic eulogy for the 1788 death in exile of Prince Charles Edward Stuart, and the lament, Cuachag nan Craobh ("Cuckoo of the Tree"),[4] one of the many poems inspired by his star crossed love for Lady Marion Ross, the tune of which is now known throughout the Anglosphere as The Skye Boat Song, based on multiple sets of Scottish English lyrics composed a century later.
[6] Most recently, 20th-century Gaelic bard and literary critic Sorley MacLean praised Ross's last song, Òran Eile, as one of the greatest poems ever written in any of the languages of Britain and favourably compared it with the best of Shakespeare's sonnets.
[3][9] Travelling as a peddler with his father, Ross learned the many different dialects spoken throughout the western Scottish Highlands, which further helped develop his command of the Gaelic language.
He was appointed as both schoolmaster and catechist for the Church of Scotland parish at Gairloch,[11] which was, according to John Lorne Campbell, "a position he occupied with enthusiasm and skill until his death at the age of twenty-eight.
[15] William Ross was devastated and, according to the oral tradition, prayed for Mrs. Clough to one day feel the burning flames of unrequited love, allegedly with both tragic and unintended consequences.
"[18] Ross' last song, Òran Eile, according to Derick Thomson, "is the finest distillation of the poet's love and despair, unsentimental, spare, with much realistic detail and with an underlying passion which shows in the imagery and word craft.
"[25] At the same time, his poetic range covered Scotch whisky, chasing girls, and an iconic lament over the death in exile of Prince Charles Edward Stuart in 1788.
MacDonald described a conversation with Eriskay postmaster and seanchaidh Dugald MacMillan (Scottish Gaelic: Dùbhgall mac Thormoid), who alleged that the Bard of Gairloch only saw Mòr Ros in a dream and then pined away and died longing in vain to see her again while awake.