42 



Indiana University Studies 



The Shepherd himself writes in his Life of Scott: 



I must confess that, before people of high rank, he [Scctt] did not 

 -_iuch encou: age niy speeches and stories. He did not then hang down 

 'li: bro'.Ts, as when he was ill-pleased wi^h me, but he raize:' them up 

 a.i g- 'Gix \ an:'. p-..t l iz upp.r lip far over the under one, seeming to 

 b^ ai./ayj t^. rhled at what was ,o c.me o..t ne::t, and then he generally 

 cut me short by seme droll anecdote to the same purport of what I was 

 eaying. In this he did not give me fair justice, for, in my ovm broad, 

 homely way, I am a very good speaker and teller of a story, too.'' 



Writes R. P. Gillies : 



On one of these occasions, during dessert, the Shepherd was pain- 

 fully puzzled, for, not having till then met with ice-cream in the shape 

 (as he said) of a "fine het sweet puddin", he took incautiously a la" gs 

 spocnful, whereupon, with much anxiety and tearful eyes, he appealed 

 to me: — "Eh, man, d'ye think that Lady Williamson keeps ony whisky?" 

 to which I replied instantly that I did not think but was c^uite certain 

 on that point; accordingly the butler at my suggestion brought him a 

 petit verre by which he was restored to entire comfort and well being." 



The social deportment of the Shepherd has been severely depicted 

 and commented on by Mr. Lockhart, but the absence of conventional 

 good breeding, at least in the earlier part of his life, is not to be won- 

 dered at, and the frankness of his confession and apolcgy when made 

 aware of any palpable transgression, more than atoned for such in the 

 minds of his more generous friends. Take, for example, the following 

 extract from a letter to my father: — "September 26, 1808. If you will 

 be so kind as to impute my behaviour at this time to the effects of your 

 own hospitality, and not to my natural bias, I promise— nay, I swear, 

 never to offend you again in thought, word or deed." This promise was 

 not kept, but the failure was acknowledged and repented of as we shall 

 see.^ 



Hogg records that when he first conceived an ambition to 

 follow in the footsteps of Burns he felt that he had more ex- 

 perience to write about ''than ever ploughman had". It is 

 true that he possessed an absolutely limitless knowledge of 

 Border adventure and tradition. He had been raised among 

 the most independent and sterling class of men upon British 

 soil, and, being a shrewd observer, if not judge, of human 

 character, his mind was stored with the material for fiction. 

 He was fond of out-of-door life, and, tho he has left no such 

 tender record as the anecdote that expresses Scott's love for 

 the heather which he must see once a year or die, Hogg's fre- 

 quent descriptions show his abounding love of nature. He 



•5 Page 99. 



' Memoirs of a Literar-y Veteran, Vol. 1, page 130. 



s Archibald Constable and his Literary Companions, by his son Thomas Constable. 



