Papers of James Hogg, 1770-1835, poet and novelist

• Reference:GB 559 Hogg MS
• Dates of Creation:1803-1994
• Language of Material:English
• Physical Description:
  2 metres

• Scope and Content

  Manuscripts and printed material relating to the life and work of James Hogg including holograph poetry and prose; correspondence between Hogg and his wife, Margaret Phillips (1818-35); correspondence with others including Sir Walter Scott; household receipts and accounts, including material relating to Hogg's funeral (1818-36); manuscript of 'A Journey Through the Western Highlands and Islands of Scotland' (1803); plan of Altrive House (1831); miscellaneous cuttings, booklets, offprints and research material relating to Hogg and his work (1860-1994).

• Administrative / Biographical History

  James Hogg (1770-1835), poet and novelist, was born at Ettrickhall Farm, Ettrick Forest, Selkirkshire. His father was an unsuccessful tenant farmer. Hogg had little formal education but was a great story-teller and learned many ballads from his mother, who came from the Laidlaw family. In 1790 he was employed as a shepherd by William Laidlaw of Blackhouse in Selkirkshire, who encouraged him to write. In 1801, visiting the sheep market in Edinburgh, Hogg took the opportunity to have his Pastorals, Poems, Songs, etc printed but it was given a poor reception. In 1803 Sir Walter Scott published several of Hogg's mothers ballads in Border Minstrelsy, volume 2. In 1807 Hogg published The Mountain Bard and invested his earnings from it in an unsuccessful attempt at farming. He was subsequently unable to get work as a shepherd and in 1810 was forced to move to Edinburgh. The Forest Minstrel (1810) again met with little success but was followed in 1813 by The Queen's Wake which was better received. In 1815 the Duke of Buccleuch granted him the farm of Altrive (Edinhope) rent free, and in 1820, despite continuing financial problems, he felt secure enough to be able to marry Margaret Phillips.

  James Hogg became an established figure in Edinburgh Society and as well as producing poetry and prose he was a regular contributor to Blackwood's Magazine with his series of tales The Shepherd's Calendar. He also featured as the Ettrick Shepherd in Noctes Ambrosianae by John Wilson. Writing on the supernatural, as with his Kilmeny and The Witch of Fife, Hogg described himself as the 'King of the Mountain and Fairy School'. Other examples of his work which demonstrate the influence of Burns and traditional Scottish ballads are The Author's Address to his Auld Dog Hector and The Village of Balmaquhapple. The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner (1824) is considered to be his best work and explores the theme of split personality which was later tackled by Robert Louis Stephenson in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Against the wishes of the Scott family, in 1834 Hogg published Domestic Manners and Private Life of Sir Walter Scott.

• Arrangement

  The material in this collection has been acquired through several different donations and purchases and the arrangement of the material reflects the original order in which it was received

• Access Information

  Open

• Other Finding Aids

  Catalogue entries recorded on library catalogue

• Custodial History

  The material in this collection has been acquired through several different donations and purchases.