James Hogg the Ettrick Shepherd

On my way to Samye-ling, Eskdalemuir last week I took refreshment at the Tushielaw Inn. The B709 from Innerleithen to Eskdalemuir, it's a delightful drive mostly single track with passing places though it's rare to meet other traffic.

Tushielaw Inn sits by Ettrick Water in the heart of James Hogg's country.

Black sheep at Ettrick, minded me of James Hogg the Ettrick shepherd.
In sheep, whiteness is not albinism but a dominant gene that actively switches colour production off. As a result, sheep blackness is recessive, and if a white ram and a white ewe are parents of a black lamb, both must be heterozygous for black, and then there is a 25% chance that the lamb will be black.



One of the supreme masterpieces of Romantic fiction and Scottish literature, The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner is a terrifying account of murder and amorality, and one man's descent into madness and despair.
The authoritative and lively introduction covers the full range of historical and religious themes and contexts and a fuller and more accurate consideration of the novel's relation to Romantic fiction than can be found elsewhere, as well as original discussion of the novel's treatment of fanaticism.
The notes identify the full range of the novel's historical, biblical, theological, topographical and literary allusions, and are both concise and fuller than in any other competing edition at this level.
Complete and up-to-date bibliography includes recent developments in Hogg scholarship.
Full glossary.
New to this edition

Introduction by Ian Duncan.
Updated and expanded Select Bibliography.
Revised Note on the Text,Chronology, and Glossary.
Entirely new and much fuller Explanatory Notes.
Reset text of the novel, checked against 1824 copy text and correcting previous errors.
To be published May 11th. Pre order here. The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner (Oxford World's Classics)