The Highland monthly - National Library of Scotland

Social Life of tJic Borders. 225
come and dine with ine at my lodgings. He did so, and I
found him so much of a man after m}' own heart, that for
man)- \ears afterwards we were seldom twenty-four hours
asunder when T was in town." That he was simple is
evident from the story told of his discussing with Wilson
his jjocm of the Isle of Palms, which he had reviewed. The
reviewer, however, had experienced a difficulty—the hero
and heroine had been sent on their voyage without provi-
sions—and until he had an explanation of this from the
author he could not rest. At last he was able to do so, and
was satisfied with the repl}-— " You see, sir," said Wilson,
" thc\- may have had bread and cheese in their pockets
without m)- taking the trouble to mention it in m}' poem !"
" Faith," said Hogg, " I daresay you are right ; but
do
you know, the thought never struck me, man." Of his
\\anit\- no better illustration can be given than his declara-
tion, which so offended Wordsworth, that the display of
Aurora Borealis which he witnessed from the Terrace at
Rydal Mount was a triumphal arch in honour of the meeting
of the poets, Wordsworth, Southey, and himself. Such
anecdotes as these, or the description given of the Shepherd
in " high jinks," as described by Lockhart in " Peter's
Letter's to his Kinsfolk," or Robert Chamber's Life, were
mere effervescences, and did not betray the real character
of the man. Thus, Mr Howitt, in his " Homes and Haunts
of English Poets." says :— " After the Prints I had seen of
him, I was quite amazed to find him so smooth, well-
looking, and gentlemanly a person." Mr S. C. Hall, a
shrewd and keen observer of men, was also surprised when
he saw him. " He was rustic," he says, " without being
coarse, not attempting to ape refinement to which he was
unused, but seemingly perfectly aware all eyes were upon
him, and accepting admiration as a right ;" and in a
charming work, Dr Russell's " Reminiscences of Yarrow,"
a highly favourable opinion is expressed of Hogg.
Similar to men of his temperament, he was nuch