WHEN THE KYE COMES HAME Then since all nature joins In this love without alloy, Oh, wha wad prove a traitor To Nature's dearest joy? Oh wha wad choose a crown, Wi' its perils and its fame, And miss his bonnie lassie When the kye comes hame, When the kye comes hame, When the kye comes hame, "Tween the gloaming and the mirk, When the kye comes hame! A BOY'S SONG Where the pools are bright and deep, Where the grey trout lies asleep, Up the river and o'er the lea, That's the way for Billy and me. FAREWELL TO GLEN-SHALLOCH Farewell to Glen-Shalloch, A farewell forever; Farewell to my wee cot That stands by the river! The fall is loud sounding I saw her last night, 'Mid the rocks that enclose them, With a child at her knee And a child at her bosom: I heard her sweet voice 'Mid the depth of my slumber, And the song that she sung "Sleep sound, my sweet babe! There is nought to alarm thee; The sons of the valley No power have to harm thee. I'll sing thee to rest In the balloch untrodden, With a coronach sad For the slain of Culloden." DONALD M'DONALD My name it is Donald M'Donald, Brogues an' brochen an' a', Wi' her brogues an' brochen an' a'? MOGGY AND ME Oh wha are sae happy as me an' my Moggy? She toils a' the day when I'm out wi' the hirsel, POOR LITTLE JESSIE Oh, what gart me greet when I parted wi' Willie, CAMERON'S WELCOME HAME Oh strike your harp, my Mary, Its loudest, liveliest key, An' join the sounding correi In its wild melody; For burn, an' breeze, an' billow, Their sangs are a' the same, And every waving willow Soughs "Cameron's welcome hame." 3 MORNING Human life is but a day; Gay its morn, but short as gay; Hope-even hope can paint no morrow. Rise, O rise, to work betake thee! Wake thee, drowsy slumberer, wake thee! What remains to be said of Hogg's verse may as well be said here. In 1817 he produced Dramatic Tales, in two volumes. He was, however, quite ignorant of the practical details of the playwright's art, and, of course, could not produce an actable drama. In attempting this form of composition he bade good-bye to his poetical talents. The result is that his Dramatic Tales contain nothing over which it is worth while to pause. In 1822 his poems were issued in four volumes, and in the same year, The Royal Jubilee, a masque commemorative of the coronation of George IV. This masque, tho interesting in parts, is generally monotonous, and flattens out completely at the end. The best verses are the songs, one of which is as follows: The day is past; It was the last Of suffering and of sorrow: And o'er the men Of northern glen Arose a brighter morrow: 3 Contents: All-hallow Eve, Sir Anthony Moore, The Profligate Princess, The Haunted Glen. 4 Scott, at the cost of a good deal of trouble, procured Hogg an invitation to be present at the coronation. It afforded Scott the theme for one of his amusing stories to the effect that Hogg refused the invitation rather than forego the pleasures of St. Boswell's Fair. In fact, however, Hogg, who had made so many agricultural failures. would not risk the profits of a year by absenting himself from the principal annual market day. The pibroch rang With border clang Along the hills of heather; And fresh and strong The thistle sprung That had begun to wither. With the exception of a few songs and short poems, Hogg produced no more verse of consequence subsequent to the publication of The Queen's Wake. Volume I of The Jacobite Relics appeared in 1819 and Volume II in 1821. The collection is valuable only so far as it preserves the text of political songs that would otherwise have been lost. The voluminous notes by Hogg are oftentimes historically inaccurate, and are of no literary value. Queen Hynde, his longest composition in verse, is the most formless and monotonous. Hogg never possessed the ability to exercise sustained effort in verse. The Queen's Wake is, in reality, but a succession of short poems written at various times and loosely strung together. His three other long poems, The Pilgrims of the Sun, Mador of the Moor, and Queen Hynde, all show decided lack of inspiration, and have fallen into deserved obscurity. Songs, 1831, and A Queer Book, 1832, complete the list of volumes of verse published during the Shepherd's lifetime. They are both merely collections of poems that had been already published. The Poetic Mirror was published in 1816, and in 1818 appeared the first of Hogg's important compositions in prose. In spite of the subsequent volumes of verse, Hogg may be considered from this date as a prose writer, an aspect that will be examined in a subsequent chapter. CHAPTER 7 RELATIONS WITH BLACKWOOD THO Hogg's relations with Mr. Blackwood extended over many years, it is thought advisable to give the narrative in connected form in one place. It has already been said that Hogg's acquaintance with his future publisher began when he met the latter in the capacity of one of Goldie's executors. Hogg writes as follows in the Autobiography: From the time I gave up The Spy I had been planning with my friends to commence the publication of a magazine on a new plan, but for several years we only conversed about the utility of such a work without doing anything farther. At length, among others, I chanced to mention it to Mr. Thomas Pringle, when I found that he and his friends had a plan in contemplation of the same kind. We agreed to join our efforts and try to set it agoing; but, as I declined the editorship on account of residing mostly on my farm at a distance from town, it became a puzzling question who was the best qualified among our friends for that undertaking. We at length fixed on Mr. Gray as the fittest person for the principal department, and I mentioned the plan to Mr. Blackwood, who, to my astonishment, I found had likewise long been cherishing a plan of the same kind. He said he knew nothing about Pringle, and always had his eye on me as a principal assistant, but he would not begin the undertaking until he saw he could do it with effect. Finding him, however, disposed to encourage such a work, Pringle, at my suggestion, made out a plan in writing, with a list of his supporters, and sent it in a letter to me. I enclosed it in another and sent it to Mr. Blackwood, and not long after that period Pringle and he came to an arrangement about commencing the work while I was in the country. Thus I had the honour of being the beginner, and almost sole instigator of that celebrated work, Blackwood's Magazine; but from the time I heard that Pringle had taken in Cleghorn as a partner I declined all connection with it, farther than as an occasional contributor. I told him the connection would not likely last for a year, and insisted that he should break it at once, but to this proposal he would in nowise listen. As I had predicted, so it fell out, and much sooner than might have been expected. In the fourth month after the commencement of that work, I received a letter from Mr. Blackwood, soliciting my return to Edinburgh, and when I arrived there I found that he and his two redoubted editors had gone to loggerheads, and instead of arguing the matter face to face they were corresponding together at the rate of about a sheet an hour. Viewing this as a ridiculous mode of proceeding, I brought about two meetings between Mr. Blackwood and Mr. Pringle, and endeavored all that I could to bring them to a right understanding about the matter. A reconciliation was effected at that time and I returned again to the country. Soon, however, I heard that the flames of controversy, and proud opposition, had broken out between the |