James Hogg (1770–1835): A shepherd by upbringing, Hogg taught himself to read and write and became an admirer of the verse of Burns. Scott employed him to help compile his collection of ballads, Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border. Hogg published a collection of poems, The Mountain Bard, in 1807, and another, The Forest Minstrel, in 1810. A fringe member of the Edinburgh literary set, Hogg communicated news of forthcoming critical reviews to Southey, and was himself featured, mockingly, in Blackwoods Magazine.