Presents an extraordinary combination of the fantastic, the funny, the serious and the historically realistic. Ranging from Galloway to Northumberland, this title focuses on the Scottish Borders.

James Hogg (1770-1835) was born on his father's farm near Selkirk in the Scottish Borders. he left school for farm work at the age of seven and became a shepherd in his teens. Steeped in oral tradition he was determined to be a poet like Burns from an early age on. He became friends with Walter Scott and in 1810 he went to Edinburgh to seek a literary career. His most well-known work, The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner, made little impact when it first appeared (anonymously) in 1824. He continued to publish poetry and prose until his death in 1835.