J - James Hogg

Families all come with stories. Some have their origins in fact, and some do not.

One which I haven’t yet been able to prove right or wrong yet, is whether there is in fact a connection in my daughter’s paternal grandmother’s family to James Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd. Fact or fabrication, who knows ?

I have done a bit of searching sporadically over the years, collaborating with other people around the world who can trace their family lines back to the same Hogg ancestors as my daughter.

James Hogg was the second son of Robert Hogg and Margaret Laidlaw, he was born at Ettrickhall Farm, Ettrick, Selkirkshire towards the end of 1770 and baptised at the parish church on 9 December. His family had been farming in the area for generations.

His formal education lasted not much more than a year, when he was 7 his father became bankrupt and James began work as a cowherd and later a shepherd. In his late teens/early twenties he was employed as a shepherd by a relative of his mother; James Laidlaw of Blackhouse Farm in Yarrow. Here he had access to a good collection of books and taught himself to read and write. He also taught himself to play fiddle and began to make a name for himself as Jamie the Poeter, singing traditional ballads and reciting the rich folklore of the Scottish Borders.

The Laidlaw family were acquainted with Sir Walter Scott and introduced James to him in 1802. Laidlaw’s son William became Scott’s close friend and amanuensis. At this time, in 1802, Scott was collecting ballads for his Border Minstrelsy and William Laidlaw, James Hogg and his mother, who had a large store of her own, all contributed. James had printed his own “Scottish Pastorals, Poems, Songs &C.,” in Edinburgh in 1801.

He divided his time between farming and writing and in 1813 wrote his most picturesque and imaginative work, “The Queens Wake”, which was at once a great poetical if not financial success. He was friends with Wordsworth and knew Byron.

James Hogg’s most known work today is “The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner” said to have been an inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella “The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.”

James Hogg died 21 Nov 1835 and was buried at Ettick Church. At his death Wordsworth wrote “Exemptore Effusion upon the Death of James Hogg.”

But is there a connection to my daughter’s family ? I am thinking, after trying to follow the lines of James’ family and of his brothers, that like my daughter’s line of descent from the Lochiel in the Cameron family, this line too might be through a daughter rather than a son.

There is a Laidlaw connection in her tree. Could Margaret Laidlaw, her 5 x great-grandmother who married Thomas Watson be the key ? Could Margaret’s father Walter be a brother of James Hogg’s mother ? Was James Laidlaw of Blackhouse his uncle ? I’m still waiting on DNA matches to help make that decision, but here’s another story to add to the mix.

James Hogg’s grandfather William O’Phawhope Laidlaw is said to have been the last man in the Border country to speak with the fairies. I know someone who will claim this fact as the evidence that holds the key.

 

 

Beetling about

We've driven miles and miles and miles over the last couple of days and the biggest things we have learned are :

1. Some of us don't like being here one day and somewhere else the next, and

2. Google lies when you ask what the driving times are to places.

From Royal Tunbridge Wells we travelled to Nottingham. Before we left Kent though, we paid a visit to Hever Castle where Anne Boleyn spent much of her childhood, and some of her courtship with King Henry VIII. We were early enough to be able to be the 2nd people into the Castle when it opened so had much of it to ourselves. The gardens open earlier than the castle itself. There are some wonderful portraits there and a lot of information about her and the family. No inside photos though - they're not permitted. We are such history (and in particular Tudor) geeks that this was a must-see for us.

Then the long hot drive - hours and hours on the M25 to get to the M1. Masses of traffic and queues, but still faster than Auckland I reckon. It was 30C according to the car, but the tv said 28 - whichever it was we were glad to be out of it and in an airconditioned room at the Holiday Inn.

Next morning we began the next part of the epic journey north. To Galashiels via Middlesborough. We only went there for a joke since before leaving NZ a friend had said to Lauren "don't go there". So we had to, just to see. It was another hot driving day, but seemed to get a bit cooler as we approached the border. We stopped for the obligatory photos to record the crossing into another country where no passport needed to be produced, then continued on our way. Turned out the actual Scottish pub I had booked for the night was a tad further north than Galashiels itself. But, it was not too bad, they had a restaurant so we could get dinner, breakfast was part of the deal and there was free wifi.

Today, we started off with a plan to go to the James Hogg monument (Border minstrel reputed to be related to Lauren) then drive through the area where the family was living for generations prior to emigrating to Australia. Some years ago Mum and Dad had taken a photo for me of a James Hogg statue near Tibbie Shiel's inn at St Mary's Loch. He used to frequent the Inn with his mates William Wordsworth & Sir Walter Scott who were all inspired to publish poetic verse about the location. Turns out this is not the monument marked on my new road map. The one we found today is in Ettrick and marks the site of the cottage where he was born in 1770. 

 look at these !! just growing wild everywhere on the side of the road - YUM

on the road from Ettrick to Traquair - just us and nature

From there we found our way to Traquair where the last Scot born Hogg was born in Lauren's branch of the family, then had a cuppa at Traquair House. Traquair House is the oldest inhabited house in Scotland, it dates back to 1107; has been visited by 27 kings and queens; and became a refuge for Catholic priests and the family supported Mary Queen of Scots and the Jacobite cause.

So back to the drive - via Edinburgh and Stirling so as not to get caught up with the traffic around Glasgow and the Commonwealth Games - to Fort William. It took a lot longer than we thought and thankfully we had the foresight to stop at Stirling and buy things to be able to cook (yes COOK) dinner. As well, the temperature dropped the further north we came and we had rain. Woohoo. We got caught behind slow traffic and those of you who have been to the Highlands will know that dual carriageways (passing lanes in Kiwi-speak) are a rarity. We'd have loved to stop and take photos of the mist hanging in the glens and covering the peaks. It makes it all look so much more moody. Hopefully it will hang around (excuse the pun) so we can get photos tomorrow, or another day this week.

We are staying in the most amazing apartment next to the Caledonian Canal by Neptune's Staircase, close to the Road to the Isles and the Clan Cameron museum. Both on our list of must-do's.