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Indiana University Studies 



Yotmg Tamlane and Jamie Telfer of the Fair Dodhead. Kirk- 

 hope tower is in sight; and the ruined vault of Tushielaw, 

 where lived Adam Scott, the most famous of the Border raid- 

 ers, still perches high upon its commanding hill. On one side 

 climbs the road traversed by King James that time he found 

 a grave for Percy Cockburne, when his wife's agony gave its 

 present name to one of the most romantic dells of beauty in 

 the Border. On another side diverges a road towards the 

 famous tower of Branksome; while straight ahead goes the 

 road to Ettrick Kirk where Thomas Boston taught the gospel 

 and wrote the Fourfold State. 



History, poetry, and legend have left their stamp at every 

 turn; and our shepherd was born in the very midst of all 

 this, used from his cradle days to the outpouring of neighbor- 

 hood lore by the fireside of his mother's cottage. But, tho 

 Hogg is known far and wide thru Scotland as the Ettrick 

 Shepherd, the real associations of his life are with the sister 

 vale of Yarrow whence he returned to Ettrick only to be 

 borne by others to a quiet grave in the shelter of Boston's 

 church. 



A little south of Ettrickhall where the poet was born, a 

 bridle path climbs steeply up the mountain side towards 

 Yarrow. After the highest elevation is reached the path runs 

 level for some distance amid wild and desolate hills. There 

 is no sign of human habitation, no sound of companionship 

 save the occasional bleat of a sheep upon the brae side. Once 

 the lonely traveler can catch a distant glimpse of the King's 

 Road and is likely to wonder how often the poet-shepherd 

 tramped this path and thought of the Scottish king and his 

 swift descent upon the robber king of Tushielaw. Then the 

 path begins to wind and drop between stacks of peat till at 

 last a broad view opens with the swiftness of a breaking 

 storm. The ravine on the left is where the martyr Renwick 

 preached his last sermon among the hills. The white farm- 

 house far below is the scene of Hogg's most widely read novel, 

 The Brotvnie of Bodsbeck. Every spot within sight bears to 

 this day wild tales of Covenanter heroism and Claverhouse's 

 cruelty. The sheet of water to the right is the Loch of the 

 Lowes and the white mark beyond it on the hillside, a gigantic 

 stone figure of the Shepherd close by Tibbie Shiel's. 



So far, history and legend have not left our footsteps. 

 Poetry soon resumes its sway. Another mile brings us to St. 



