Page:Biographical and critical studies by James Thomson ("B.V.").djvu/433

 JAMES HOGG 417 There is not a man in Scotland whose hand I am prouder to hold.' ... He continued : ' This is my brother Allan, the greatest admirer that you have on earth, and himself a young aspiring poet of some promise. You will be so kind as to excuse this intrusion of ours on your solitude, for, in truth, I could get no peace either night or day with Allan till I consented to come and see you.'" Whence we may see that the intense hero-worship of Carlyle is not a distinctive personal passion, but rather indi- genous to his native soil. Allan was then "a dark ungainly youth of about eighteen, with a boardly frame for his age, and strongly marked, manly features — the very model of Burns, and exactly such a man. Had they been of the same age, it would not have been easy to distinguish the one from the other." Here, without detracting Cun- ningham, I venture to differ from Hogg, opining that the living physiognomy of Burns was as unique in its fiery splendour as his genius. Hogg went down to Allan ; they had a firm hand-grip, and from that moment were friends, being both enthusiasts for the same things. Hogg goes on : "I had a small bothy upon the hill, in which I took my breakfast and dinner on wet days, and rested myself. It was so small that we had to walk in on all-fours; and when we were in we could not get up our heads any way but in a sitting posture. It was exactly my own length, and on the one side I had a bed of rushes, which served likewise as a seat ; on this we all three sat down, and there we spent the whole afternoon, and I am sure a happier group of three never met on the hill of Queensberry. Allan brightened up 2 U