Hogg, James

Hogg, James, 1770–1835, Scottish poet, called the Ettrick Shepherd. Sir Walter Scott established Hogg's literary reputation by including some of his poems in Border Minstrelsy. Hogg's verse, notable for its earthy vigor, includes The Mountain Bard (1807) and The Queen's Wake (1813). He also wrote several prose works, including recollections of Scott (1834).

Bibliography

See his memoirs, Confessions of a Fanatic (1824); study by L. Simpson (1962).

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Hogg, James

(baptized Dec. 9, 1770, Ettrick, Selkirkshire, Scot.—died Nov. 21, 1835, Altrive, Yarrow) Scottish poet. A shepherd, he was almost entirely self-educated. The talents of “the Ettrick Shepherd” were discovered by Walter Scott when Hogg supplied material for Scott's Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, and his popularity accompanied the ballad revival of the early Romantic movement. Hogg's other writings include the poetry collection The Queen's Wake (1813) and The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner (1824), a novel about religious mania with a psychopathic hero that anticipates the modern psychological thriller.