The Forest Minstrel (The Collected Works of James Hogg)

Originally published in 1810, The Forest Minstrel represents the first full collection of songs by Hogg. The items contained include some of his first compositions as a shepherd in Ettrick, while others originate from early contact with the literary culture of Edinburgh. This edition for the first time supplies musical settings for the majority of items, whereas in 1810 Hogg only nominated tunes by title. These settings are based on extensive research in relevant pre-1810 Scottish music books. As a result, the modern reader is given access to the tunes which originally formed an integral part of the songs. An Introduction describes Hogg’s development as a song-writer and the musical context in 1810; while full annotation is provided on both the texts of the songs and the related tunes.Includes a CDThe volume also includes a CD containing audio recordings of the seventy-two tunes which are provided by means of the notations.

James Hogg was a Scottish poet, novelist and essayist who wrote in both Scots and English. He is best known for his novel The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner.

Peter Garside was educated at Cambridge and Harvard Universities and taught English Literature for more than thirty years at Cardiff University, where he became Professor of English and Director of the Centre for Editorial and Intertextual Research. Subsequently he was appointed Professor of Bibliography and Textual Studies at the University of Edinburgh, where he is now a Professorial Fellow. He was one of the general editors of the bibliographical survey The English Novel 1770-1829 (2000) and has since co-edited the critical collection English and British Fiction 1750-1820 (2015). More recent work includes editions of Walter Scott’s Shorter Poems (2020) and J. G. Lockhart’s Peter’s Letters to His Kinsfolk (2 volumes, 2022).

Richard Jackson is a retired senior civil servant and keen amateur musical performer. He is author of a number of articles which have appeared in Studies in Hogg and his World.