As formerly described, Hogg was, in youth, particularly good-looking and
well-formed. A severe illness somewhat changed the form of his features.
His countenance[43] presented the peculiarity of a straight cheekbone;
his forehead was capacious and elevated, and his eye remarkable for its
vivacity. His hair, in advanced life, became dark brown, mixed with
gray. He was rather above the middle height, and was well-built; his
chest was broad, his shoulders square, and his limbs well-rounded. He
disliked foppery, but was always neat in his apparel: on holidays he
wore a suit of black. Forty years old ere he began to mix in the circles
of polished life, he never attained a knowledge of the world and its
ways; in all his transactions he retained the simplicity of the pastoral
character. His Autobiography is the most amusing in the language, from
the honesty of the narrator; never before did man of letters so minutely
reveal the history of his foibles and failings. He was entirely
unselfish and thoroughly benevolent; the homeless wanderer was sure of
shelter under his roof, and the poor of some provision by the way.
Towards his aged parents his filial affection was of the most devoted
kind. Hospitable even to a fault, every visitor received his kindly
welcome, and his visitors were more numerous than those of any other man
of letters in the land.[44] Fond of conviviality, he loved the
intercourse of congenial minds; the voice of friendship was always more
precious to him than the claims of business. He was somewhat expert in
conversation; he talked Scotch on account of long habit, and because it
was familiar to him. He was possessed of a good musical ear, and loved
to sing the ballads of his youth, with several of his own songs; and the
enthusiasm with which he sung amply compensated for the somewhat
discordant nature of his voice. A night with the Shepherd was an event
to be remembered. He was zealous in the cause of education; and he built
a school at Altrive, and partly endowed a schoolmaster, for the benefit
of the children of the district. A Jacobite as respected the past, he