FAREWELL FEAST OF ANGLING CLUB. 189 



nesses. But this art was never understood by James 

 Hogg. He delighted in the broad exposure of his 

 frailties ; and a natural conceit (for such it must be ac- 

 knowledged he possessed) made him too careless of the 

 censure and advices of others. He hated the trammels 

 of criticism, and disclaimed the sagacious precepts 

 of the lettered inquisitor. Most of his productions 

 were rapidly thrown off their execution kept pace 

 with their conception ; accordingly, they remain full of 

 crudenesses and contradictions. These defects, how- 

 ever, are overlooked in the fancy and originality of the 

 Shepherd Poet ; the drossy and faulty surface is con- 

 cealed among the ignitions of his genius. 



For one of the self-taught, Hogg shone wonderfully. 

 His best honours were gathered without the aid of 

 patronage. He climbed the obelisk of fame alone 

 not that officious advisers kept altogether aloof, but he 

 rebutted with vigour their sacrilegious suggestions. In 

 none of his poetical compositions was the Ettrick 

 Shepherd an imitator of the Ayrshire Ploughman. 

 His songs differ in their fabric and melody from those 

 of Burns. They are wrought of a lighter and more 

 fanciful material, but they want the strength and judg- 

 ment the severe beauty of execution the felicity of 

 thought and language. Among them, however, there 

 are many lovely and soul-stirring ditties, pastoral 

 harmonies, and Arcadian airs. Hogg was a master 

 in rural poetry. He had an eye and heart for all 

 the operations of nature, and reverently did he pro- 



