Scottish Pastorals (1801), containing five poems and two songs, was the first book published by James Hogg.
In 1800, most likely August or September, by his own account, Hogg had time on his hands during a trip to Edinburgh to sell sheep. Aware of his poetic gift—though only one poem of his had so far appeared in print, in The Scots Magazine for 1794—he found a printer's shop next to the market, wrote out 'a poem or two' from memory, and had them printed as a 62-page booklet. [1] This may be a true recollection, though Hogg had showed a manuscript of the collection to friends before it was published. [2]
Scottish Pastorals, Poems, Songs, &c. Mostly Written in the Dialect of the South. By James Hogg was printed in Edinburgh by John Taylor, Grassmarket. A thousand copies were printed, selling at a shilling.
In 1988 Stirling University Press published a critical edition by Elaine Petrie.
Geordie Fa's Dirge
Dusty, or, Watie an' Geordie's Review of Politics; An Eclogue
Willie an' Keatie, A Pastoral
A Dialogue in a Country Church-Yard
The Death of Sir Niel Stuart, and Donald M'Vane, Esq. An Auld Tale Made New Again
Song I "'Twas up yon wild an' lonely glen"
Song II "O Shepherd, the weather is misty and changing"
Scottish Pastorals received little attention when it was published. [3] In his Memoir Hogg himself dismissed it as a vanity publication. [4] Its merits have received recognition, however, in the later 20th and early 21st centuries. In the most detailed discussion, Elaine Petrie in her edition of 1988 praises 'the raw life and vitality that prevent it from ever becoming a precious little collection of derivative verse' and asserts that 'Hogg's confident use of Scots imbues his subjects with dignity and integrity'. [5] Petrie's recognition of the 'vigour' and 'candour' of the collection was endorsed in 2003 by Karl Miller. [6] Four years later, Valentina Bold responded more equivocally, finding the collection at times 'laboured' and 'insipid', but discerning 'a subtle mix of oral and artsong elements' and an ability simultaneously to adopt and subvert established forms which was to be developed richly in Hogg's subsequent works. [7]
James Hogg was a Scottish poet, novelist and essayist who wrote in both Scots and English. As a young man he worked as a shepherd and farmhand, and was largely self-educated through reading. He was a friend of many of the great writers of his day, including Sir Walter Scott, of whom he later wrote an unauthorised biography. He became widely known as the "Ettrick Shepherd", a nickname under which some of his works were published, and the character name he was given in the widely read series Noctes Ambrosianae, published in Blackwood's Magazine. He is best known today for his novel The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner. His other works include the long poem The Queen's Wake (1813), his collection of songs Jacobite Relics (1819), and his two novels The Three Perils of Man (1822), and The Three Perils of Woman (1823).
Allan Ramsay was a Scottish poet, playwright, publisher, librarian, and impresario of early Enlightenment Edinburgh.
Jacobite Relics is a two volume collection of songs related to the Jacobite risings, compiled by the Scottish poet and novelist James Hogg on commission from the Highland Society of London in 1817. Most of the songs in the collection are Jacobite, and a minority are Whig. A number of the songs were written or adapted by Robert Burns and scholars speculate as to how many of them were authored or at least substantially altered by Hogg himself.
Robert Burns, also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who have written in the Scots language, although much of his writing is in a "light Scots dialect" of English, accessible to an audience beyond Scotland. He also wrote in standard English, and in these writings his political or civil commentary is often at its bluntest.
James Gray was a Scottish educator, poet and linguist. While master of the high school of Dumfries, he became a friend of Robert Burns, later teaching his children. He later held posts at the high school of Edinburgh and the Belfast Academy. He then took orders in the Church of Ireland, serving as a chaplin for the East India Company in Kutch and serving as tutor to the young Rao or Prince of that province, Deshalji II.
The Queen's Wake is a narrative poem by James Hogg, first published in 1813. It consists of an Introduction, three Nights, and a Conclusion, totalling over five thousand lines, and there are also authorial notes. The poem presents the contributions, in various metres, of a series of Scottish bards to a competition organised by Mary, Queen of Scots on her arrival in Scotland from France in 1561.
Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect is commonly known as the first Edinburgh Edition and the partial second setting has become known as the Stinking Edition. It is a collection of poetry and songs by Robert Burns, first Printed for the Author by William Smellie in Edinburgh and published or Sold by William Creech of Edinburgh on the 17 April, an announcement being made in the Edinburgh Advertiser on that date, although the date 21 April 1786 is given by a few authors. The Kilmarnock Edition made Robert Burns Caledonia's Bard whilst the 'Edinburgh Edition' elevated him into a position amongst the world's greatest poets.
Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect is commonly known as the Third or London Edition and sometimes the Stinking Edition. It is a collection of poetry and songs by Robert Burns, printed for A. Strahan; T. Cadell in the Strand; and W. Creech, Edinburgh. MDCCLXXXVII The date of publication for the London Edition was in November 1787, however Strahan and Cadell had previously advertised for sale the 'Second' or 'Edinburgh Edition' using the 500 or so copies that William Creech still had that were unsold. The successful selling of these made a truly new 'London Edition' a commercially viable enterprise.
The Mountain Bard (1807), containing 21 poems, was James Hogg's first substantial poetical publication.
The Forest Minstrel (1810) is an anthology of 83 songs, assembled by James Hogg, divided into four sections: 'Pathetic Songs', 'Love Songs', 'Humorous Songs', and 'National Songs'. Hogg himself is the author of 56 items. There are also 15 by Thomas Mounsey Cunningham, 5 by John Grieve, 3 by William Laidlaw, 3 by James Gray, and one perhaps by John Ballantyne.
Lock the Door, Lariston is a border ballad by the Scottish poet James Hogg, the "Ettrick Shepherd", first published in 1811. It describes a sixteenth-century armed raid by English border reivers across the Anglo-Scottish border, met and defeated by Scottish borderers led by Jock Elliott of Lariston. Written in a traditional form, it was set to music by the 1850s, and is now a commonly performed Scottish folk song.
The Spy was a periodical directed at the Edinburgh market, edited by James Hogg, with himself as principal contributor, which appeared from 1 September 1810 to 24 August 1811. It combined features of two types of periodical established in the 18th century, the essay periodical and the miscellany. As an outsider, Hogg used his periodical to give a critical view of the dominant upper-class culture of Edinburgh, with Walter Scott and Francis Jeffrey as its leading lights, and to launch his career as a writer of fiction as well as poetry.
The Pilgrims of the Sun is a narrative poem by James Hogg, first published in December 1814, dated 1815. It consists of four cantos, totalling somewhat less than 2000 lines. In similar vein to 'Kilmeny' in The Queen's Wake (1813), it tells of a young woman's journey to an ideal world and her return to earth.
Mador of the Moor is a narrative poem by James Hogg, first published in 1816. Consisting of an Introduction, five cantos, and a Conclusion, it runs to more than two thousand lines, mostly in the Spenserian stanza. Set in late medieval Scotland, it tells of the seduction of a young maiden by a charismatic minstrel and her journey to Stirling in search of him, leading to the revelation that he is the king and finally to their marriage and the christening of their son.
Queen Hynde (1825) is an epic poem in six cantos by James Hogg. Set in western Scotland in the sixth century, it tells the story of the defeat of an invading Norwegian army by forces loyal to Queen Hynde, advised by Columba, and of the winning of her hand by the legitimate claimant of the throne Eiden. It is mostly in octosyllabic couplets.
A Queer Book (1832) is a collections of 26 poems, mostly short narratives, by James Hogg, all but two of which had been previously published, more than half of them in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine.
Altrive Tales (1832) by James Hogg is the only volume to have been published of a projected twelve-volume set with that title bringing together his collected prose fiction. It consists of an updated autobiographical memoir, a new novella, and two reprinted short stories.
'The Holy Tulzie', 'The Twa Herds' or 'An Unco Mournfu' Tale was a poem written in 1784 by Robert Burns whilst living at Mossgiel, Mauchline, about a strong disagreement, not on doctrine, but on the parish boundaries, between two 'Auld Licht' ministers, John Russel and Alexander Moodie It was followed by "The Holy Fair", "The Ordination", "The Kirk's Alarm", "Holy Willie's Prayer", etc.
Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect was the second 'pirated' issue of Robert Burns's work, being published in Ireland at Belfast without permission from or payment to the author or publisher. It is a so-called 'Stinking Edition', carrying the error 'Stinking' for the Scots word 'Skinking' (watery) in the poem "To a Haggis" because the type setters copied from a 1787 'Stinking Edition' of Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect . It has been shown to be from the same print setting as the 'Belfast Edition' but with a different title page.
Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect was a 'pirated' edition of Robert Burns's work, being published in Ireland without permission from or payment to the author or publisher. It is a so-called 'Stinking Edition', carrying the error 'Stinking' for the Scots word 'Skinking' (watery) in the poem "To a Haggis" because the type setters copied from a 1787 'Stinking Edition' of Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect .