60 



Indiana University Studies 



alternate rows of stones and sods, their floor of earth, and their roof 

 of coarse timber covered with earth and rushes. A hole in the middle 

 or end of the roof, surrounded at the top by a wicker frame widening 

 as it came down, plastered with a mixture of straw and mud, and sup- 

 ported by a strong beam, was the only chimney. If the rain or snow 

 occasionally found entrance through this open space, it allowed of a 

 number of persons gathering round the glowing peat fire, and was con- 

 venient for smoking hams. A small aperture with a single pane of 

 glass, and sometimes altogether open, was stuffed at night with old 

 clothes, and was the only apology for a window. Occasionally the byre 

 might be seen on one side of the entrance, the family apartment, which 

 served alike for eating and sleeping, on the other. With such limited 

 resources the box beds with shelves within were made a receptacle for 

 all possible odds and ends; while, contrary to all sanitary arrangements, 

 potatoes in heaps were stored beneath. It was quite a rare thing to 

 have a but and be7i for the exclusive use of the household.^ 



Hogg's life at Altrive was very simple. In 1816 he writes 

 to Mr. Blackwood : 



You may think me ungrateful for not writing to you as I promised, 

 especially as you have been so mindful of me; but once you see how 

 barren my letter is, you will think different. There is not an article 

 here that can have any interest to a citizen; for though there are a 

 number of blackcocks, muir-fowl, &c., on our hills, there are such a 

 crew of idle fellows (mostly from Edinburgh, I dare say) broke loose 

 on them to-day, that it seems to a peaceful listener at a distance like 

 me as if the French were arrived at the Forest. Yet all this and every- 

 thing that I have in my power to mention, you know must take place of 

 course. In fact, the people of Edinburgh should always write to their 

 friends in the country, and never expect any answer. For my part, I 

 know that all the letters I ever received from the country while I was 

 there, were most insipid, nor can it otherwise be. We converse only with 

 the elements, and our concerns are of the most trivial and simple nature. 

 For my part, I feel myself so much at home here, and so much in the 

 plain rustic state in w^hich I spent my early years, that I have even 

 forgot to think or muse at all, and my thoughts seem as vacant as the 

 wilderness around me. I even wonder at some of my own past ideas. 

 I have neither written nor corrected a line since I left Edinburgh, and 

 as I never intend returning to it for any length of time, I think I may 

 safely predict without the spirit of prophecy, that you have seen the 

 best and most likely all, of my productions that you will ever see. They 

 have gained me but little fame and far less profit; and certainly the 

 most graceful way of giving up the contest is to retire indignant into 

 my native glens, and consort with the rustic friends of my early youth. 

 This is no rodomontade, my dear sir, but the genuine sentiments of my 

 heart at this time. Do not, however, neglect to favor me still with a 

 reading of all new works in my way. I will return the Melodies, but I 

 will keep this and the future numbers of the Revieiv, and you or Mur- 



' Russell's Reminiscences of Yarrow. 



