Before
his departure, he gave the pieces to a printer; and shortly after, he
received intimation that a thousand copies were ready for delivery. On
comparing the printed sheets with his MSS. at Ettrick, he had the
mortification of discovering "many of the stanzas omitted, others
misplaced, and typographical errors abounding in every page." The little
_brochure_, imperfect as it was, sold rapidly in the district; for the
Shepherd had now a considerable circle of admirers, and those who had
ridiculed his verse-making, kept silent since Scott's visit to him. A
copy of the pamphlet is preserved in the Advocates' Library; it consists
of sixty-two pages octavo, and is entitled, "Scottish Pastorals, Poems,
Songs, &c., mostly written in the Dialect of the South, by James Hogg.
Edinburgh: printed by John Taylor, Grassmarket, 1801. Price One
Shilling." The various pieces evince poetic power, unhappily combined
with a certain coarseness of sentiment. One of the longer ballads,
"Willie and Keatie," supposed to be a narrative of one of his early
amours, obtained a temporary popularity, and was copied into the
periodicals. It is described by Allan Cunningham as a "plain, rough-spun
pastoral, with some fine touches in it, to mark that better was coming."
The domestic circumstances of the Shepherd were meanwhile not
prosperous; he was compelled to abandon the farm of Ettrick-house, which
had been especially valuable to him, as affording a comfortable home to
his venerated parents.
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