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Indiana University Studies 



This gentleman continued to interest himself in our welfare till the day 

 of his untimely death, when we lost the best friend that we had in the 

 world.^ 



Hogg was immediately set to work. His employment was 

 that of herding a few cows, and his principal duty was to keep 

 them out of the unfenced fields. His wages for the half-year 

 was a lamb and a pair of shoes. He writes : 



Even at that early age my fancy seems to have been a hard neighbor 

 for both judgment and memory. I was wont to strip off my clothes, and 

 run races against time, or rather against myself; and, in the course of 

 these exploits, which I accomplished much to my own admiration, I first 

 lost my plaid, then my bonnet, then my hat, and, finally, my hosen, for, 

 as for shoes, I had none. In that naked state did I herd for several 

 days, till a shepherd and maidservant were sent to the hills to look for 

 them and found them all." 



He continued at this employment for half a year when he 

 was returned to school. He now progressed sufficiently in his 

 studies to read the Bible; but hard times compelled him to 

 resume work again at the end of three months. The present 



s Hogg never forgot the kindness of Mr. Brydon, whose memory he commemorated 

 in A Dialogue in a Country Churchyard, which appeared in the Scottish Pastorals, Hogg's 

 first published volume. The last word is italicized because many biographers have over- 

 looked the fact that it was not the first of his publications. During several years, even 

 some time before 1800, which the Autobiography mentions as the year in which Hogg's 

 first song was published, Hogg had been writing at intervals for the Scots' Magazine 

 under the nom de plume of The Ettrick Shepherd. 



^ From the A utohicgraphy. Inasmuch as this memoir will be freely quoted in the 

 following pages it is worth while to define its character at the outset. In the prelim- 

 inary note the writer says: "I like to write about myself. ... I must again apprise 

 you, that, whenever I have occasions to speak of myself and my perfoi-mances, I find 

 it impossible to divest myself of an inherent vanity ; but, making allowances for that, 

 I will lay before you the outlines of my life — with the circumstances that gave rise to 

 my juvenile pieces, and my own opinion of them as faithfully 



As if you were the minister of heaven 



Sent down to search the secret sins of men." 



Hogg certainly possessed a very inherent sense of vanity, as well as the gift of 

 exaggeration, and the fault of inaccuracy. Yet there is no reason to believe that he did 

 not try to carry out sincerely the intention couched in the above words. The substance 

 of the early part of the memoir first appeared in the form of three letters to different 

 numbers of the Scots' Magazine. It first appeared in connected form as a preface to 

 The Motmtain Bard in 1807. It was prefixed to several subsequent publications, in each 

 case cor.t'nued to date. The last appearance during Hogg's lifetime was in 1832 as 

 preface to the twelve-volume edition of the Altrive Tales, only one volume of which was 

 ever published. There are contradictions, omissions, and additions encountered in the 

 different editions, and the version that has appeared since his death has had several 

 personal passages "edited" out. 



In spite of such details which render the Autobiography questionable evidence upon 

 certain subjects, there is sufficient collateral evidence to enable one to use its pages with 

 sufficient satisfaction. In the present volume the M'riter has introduced references to the 

 Autobiograjyhy only when satisfied of their authenticity. 



