HOGG, JAMES (1770-1835), Scottish poet, known as the "Ettrick Shepherd," was baptized at Ettrick in Selkirkshire on the 9th of December 1770. His ancestors had been shepherds for centuries. He received hardly any school training, and seems to have had difficulty in getting books to read. After spending his early years herding sheep for different masters, he was engaged as shepherd by Mr Laidlaw, tenant of Blackhouse, in the parish of Yarrow, from 1790 till 1799. He was treated with great kindness, and had access to a large collection of books. When this was exhausted he subscribed to a circulating library in Peebles. While attending to his flock, he spent a great deal of time in reading. He profited by the company of his master's sons, of whom William Laidlaw is known as the friend of Scott and the author of _Lucy's Flittin'_. Hogg's first printed piece was "The Mistakes of a Night" in the _Scots Magazine_ for October 1794, and in 1801 he published his _Scottish Pastorals_. In 1802 Hogg became acquainted with Sir Walter Scott, who was then collecting materials for his _Border Minstrelsy_. On Scott's recommendation Constable published Hogg's miscellaneous poems (_The Mountain Bard_) in 1807. By this work, and by _The Shepherd's Guide, being a Practical Treatise on the Diseases of Sheep_, Hogg realized about L300. With this money he unfortunately embarked in farming in Dumfriesshire, and in three years was utterly ruined, having to abandon all his effects to his creditors. He returned to Ettrick, only to find that he could not even obtain employment as a shepherd; so he set off in February 1810 to push his fortune in Edinburgh as a literary adventurer. In the same year he published a collection of songs, _The Forest Minstrel_, to which he was the largest contributor. This book, being dedicated to the countess of Dalkeith (afterwards duchess of Buccleuch), and recommended to her notice by Scott, was rewarded with a present of 100 guineas. He then began a weekly periodical, _The Spy_, which he continued from September 1810 till August 1811. The appearance of _The Queen's Wake_ in 1813 established Hogg's reputation as a poet; Byron recommended it to John Murray, who brought out an English edition. The scene of the poem is laid in 1561; the queen is Mary Stuart; and the "wake" provides a simple framework for seventeen poems sung by rival bards. It was followed by the _Pilgrims of the Sun_ (1815), and _Mador of the Moor_ (1816). The duchess of Buccleuch, on her death-bed (1814), had asked her husband to do something for the Ettrick bard; and the duke gave him a lease for life of the farm of Altrive in Yarrow, consisting of about 70 acres of moorland, on which the poet built a house and spent the last years of his life. In order to obtain money to stock his farm Hogg asked various poets to contribute to a volume of verse which should be a kind of poetic "benefit" for himself. Failing in his applications