Page:Biographical and critical studies by James Thomson ("B.V.").djvu/440

 424 CRITICAL STUDIES in a very short time, have been starved out of it again." And we may be sure that their practical business common-sense controlled and extinguished many a wild impracticable scheme of his. Early in 1813 he published the "Queen's Wake," which includes "Kilmeny" and others of his best and most popular pieces. No one had seen it in MS., and the day after it came out Hogg walked about the streets, read its title in the booksellers' windows, and was like a man between death and life, waiting for the verdict of the jury. In the High Street an Ettrick man, rough but sagacious, William Dunlop, crossed over to him, and thus cheered him up : " Ye useless poetical deevil that ye're ! what hae ye been doing a' this time?" — "What doing, Willie ! what do you mean ? " — " Ye hae been pestering us wi' four- penny papers and daft shilly-shally sangs, an' bletherin' an' speakin' i' the Forum [a debating society], an' yet had stuff in ye to produce a thing like this ! " — " Ay, Willie, have you seen my new beuk ! " — " Ay, faith, that I have, man ; and it has cheated me out o' a night's sleep. Ye hae hit the right nail on the head now. Yon's the very thing, sir." — "I'm very glad to hear you say sae, Willie ; but what do ye ken about poems ? " — " Never ye mind how I ken ; I gie ye my word for it, yon's the thing that will do. If ye hadna made a fool o' yoursel' afore, man, yon wad hae sold better than ever a book sold. 'Od ! wha wad hae thought there was as muckle in that sheep's-head o' yours?" And Willie went away, laughing and mis- calling Hogg over his shoulder. Two editions went off quickly, and a third was prepared, when his pub- lisher, a young man with little capital and less influ-