. Along with several shepherds in the
forest, who were of studious inclinations, he formed a literary society,
which proposed subjects for competition in verse, and adjudged encomiums
of approbation to the successful competitors. Two spirited members of
this literary conclave were Alexander Laidlaw, a shepherd, and
afterwards tenant of Bowerhope, on the border of St Mary's Lake, and the
poet's elder brother, William, a man of superior talent. Both these
individuals subsequently acquired considerable distinction as
intelligent contributors to the agricultural journals. For some years,
William Hogg had rented the sheep-farm of Ettrick-house, and afforded
shelter and support to his aged and indigent parents. In the year 1800,
he resigned his lease to the poet, having taken another farm on the
occasion of his marriage. James now established himself, along with his
parents, at Ettrick-house, the place of his nativity, after a period of
ten years' connexion with Mr Laidlaw of Blackhouse, whose conduct
towards him, to use his own words, had proved "much more like that of a
father than a master." It was during the course of a visit to Edinburgh
in the same year, that an accidental circumstance gave a wider range to
his poetical reputation. Spending an evening with a party of friends in
the Crown Tavern, he was solicited for a song. He sung the last which he
had composed; it was "Donald Macdonald." The reception was a roar of
applause, and one of the party offered to get it set to music and
published. The song was issued anonymously from the music establishment
of Mr John Hamilton of Edinburgh. Within a few months it was sung in
every district of the kingdom; and, at a period when the apprehended
invasion of Napoleon filled the hearts of the nation with anxiety, it
was hailed as an admirable stimulus to patriotism. In the preparation of
the "Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border," Scott had been largely indebted
to the intelligent peasantry of the south. He was now engaged in making
collections for his third volume, and had resolved to examine the
pastoral inhabitants of Ettrick and Yarrow. Procuring a note of
introduction from his friend Leyden to young Laidlaw, Scott arrived at
Blackhouse during the summer of 1801, and in his native home formed the
acquaintance of his future steward. To his visitor, Laidlaw commended
Hogg as the best qualified in the forest to assist him in his
researches; and Scott, who forthwith accompanied Laidla