James Hogg (1770-1835), the 'Ettrick Shepherd', was born to a farming family in the Scottish Borders. He earned the nickname through his work for a time as a shepherd. He taught himself to read from newspapers passed to him by the wife of his employer. Hogg began writing songs and plays and moved to Edinburgh in 1810 to pursue a full-time writing career. A friend of many writers of his day including Sir Walter Scott, he was a prolific writer throughout his life, producing novels, poetry and songs up until his death.
James Thomson (1834-1882) was born in Port Glasgow but sent to an orphanage for Scottish children in London after his father suffered a stroke. He joined the army but was dishonourably discharged, possibly due to his drinking. He began his career in journalism as well as writing essays and poems which he submitted to various publications, the most well-known of these being The City of Dreadful Night.
Margaret Oliphant Wilson Oliphant (née Margaret Oliphant Wilson) (4 April 1828 - 25 June 1897), was a Scottish novelist and historical writer who married her cousin, Frank Wilson Oliphant. Oliphant's first novel was published in 1849, Passages in the Life of Mrs. Margaret Maitland. The book dealt with the Scottish Free Church movement. Oliphant, during an often difficult life, wrote more than 120 works, including novels, books of travel and description, histories, and volumes of literary criticism. Among the best known of her works of fiction are: Adam Graeme (1852), The Marriage of Elinor (1892), The Ways of Life (1897). She died at Wimbledon, London, on 25 June 1897.
James Hogg (1770-1835), the 'Ettrick Shepherd', was born to a farming family in the Scottish Borders. He earned the nickname through his work for a time as a shepherd. He taught himself to read from newspapers passed to him by the wife of his employer. Hogg began writing songs and plays and moved...