shake of
his head in laying back his long hair, which rolled down his back, and
fell below his loins. And every female eye was upon him, as, with light
step, he ascended the stair to the gallery where he sat."

As the committing of his thoughts to paper became a less irksome
occupation, Hogg began, with commendable prudence, to attempt
composition in prose; and in evidence of his success, he had the
satisfaction to find short essays which he sent to the _Scots Magazine_
regularly inserted in that periodical. Poetry was cultivated at the same
time with unabated ardour, though the bard did not yet venture to expose
his verses beyond the friendly circle of his associates in Ettrick
Forest. Of these, the most judicious was young Laidlaw; who, predicting
his success, urged him to greater carefulness in composition. There was
another stimulus to his improvement. 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 Hamil