unequalled agility and swiftness. His face was then round and full, and
of a ruddy complexion, with bright blue eyes that beamed with gaiety,
glee, and good-humour, the effect of the most exuberant animal spirits.
His head was covered with a singular profusion of light-brown hair,
which he was obliged to wear coiled up under his hat. On entering church
on a Sunday (where he was all his life a regular attender) he used, on
lifting his hat, to raise his right hand to assist a graceful 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