:::Well, they were out of print for a long time. I read Fingal many years ago in an old edition when it was very difficult to find a copy. Now they are freely available online. I still find the poems insufferably dull. Of course there's no way officially to measure poetic merit, but the sheer lack of editions, anthologised passages and appreciative criticial commentary creates an implicit consensus. As we know, consensus can change, and no-one disputes the historical importance of the work.