Winter Evening Tales is a collection of four novellas, a number of short stories and sketches, and three poems by James Hogg published in two volumes in 1820. Eleven of the items are reprinted, with varying degrees of revision, from Hogg's periodical The Spy.
Background
In 1813 Hogg approached Archibald Constable to propose a collection of Scottish rural prose tales, including a number of those which had appeared in his periodical The Spy two years earlier. Constable turned the offer down, and it was not until 1817 that Hogg revived the project, informing William Blackwood that he had Cottage Winter Nights ready for the press. Discussions made progress, and in May 1818 Blackwood published The Brownie of Bodsbeck; and Other Tales, in two volumes, the other tales being 'The Hunt of Eildon' and 'The Wool-Gatherer', these replacing 'The Bridal of Polmood' which Blackwood rejected. Hogg had hoped that Blackwood would bring out a further two volumes, but in the event the sales of The Brownie were disappointing. However, Blackwood suggested that Hogg should approach Oliver and Boyd, and by August 1819 he had signed an agreement with them for 1500 copies of the desired two additional volumes.
Editions
The first edition of Winter Evening Tales, Collected among the Cottagers in the South of Scotland appeared in two volumes on 19 April 1820. The publishers were Oliver & Boyd in Edinburgh and their associates G. & W. B. Whittaker in London. Sales were good, and in March 1821 Hogg signed an agreement for 1000 copies of a second edition. The text was revised, involving authorial involvement in the first volume, in the general direction of smoothness and propriety. A critical edition, edited by Ian Duncan, appeared in 2002 as a volume in the Stirling/South Carolina Research Edition of The Collected Works of James Hogg.
Contents
Volume One The Renowned Adventures of Basil Lee
Originally published in Nos 3‒4 of The Spy: here radically re-worked and expanded, with a massive central section detailing Lee's amatory adventures in America
Adam Bell
Originally published in No. 35 of The Spy: here abridged
Duncan Campbell
Originally published in Nos 49 and 51 of The Spy: here minimally revised
Originally published in Nos 40 and 44 of The Spy: here minimally revised
Halbert of Lyne
Originally published in R. P. Gillies, Illustrations of a Poetical Character by : The king acquits Polmood and remands Carmichael in custody.
Ch. 10: The king orders preparations to be made for the wedding of Polmood and Elizabeth.
Ch. 11: Polmood and Elizabeth are married.
Ch. 12: A shepherd speaks critically of the king to James, who is incognito. He is threatened with execution but pardoned and knighted as Sir William Moray.
Ch. 13: Sir William sings 'The Herone', alluding to the king's affair with Ann Gray.
Ch. 14: The king proposes that he and William should undertake surveys of his realm incognito. During his honeymoon Polmood is upstaged by Alexander, duke of Rosay .
Ch. 15: Back at Polmood castle, the bored Elizabeth is fascinated by a young gardener, Connel. When Rosay arrives in anticipation of the king's descent, Polmood asks Connel to keep an eye on Rosay and Elizabeth.
Ch. 16: Connel reveals himself to Elizabeth as Carmichael. He withdraws to a hiding-place when Rosay discovershis secret and informs Polmood.
Ch. 17: Two corpses are found, believed to be Polmood and another knight, and it is thought Carmichael is responsible for their deaths.
Ch. 18: A rustic pair hear what they take to be Polmood's ghost speaking of 'wicked Elizabeth'. The ghost also appears to Elizabeth on her own and with Rosay.
Ch. 19: Polmood, disguised as a palmer, finds Rosay and Elizabeth in a woodland bower. He binds them and hangs them on a tree, killing Rosay. Carmichael, in shepherd guise, arrives and wounds Polmood fatally. Before his death Polmood indicates that he killed the two knights, taking them for Rosay and his companion Lord Hamilton. A year later, Carmichael and Elizabeth are married.
King Gregory
Originally published in The Edinburgh Annual Register for 1812 : limited revision here
Originally published in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine in 1817 and 1819 : largely unrevised here
Country Dreams and Apparitions No. II Connel of Dee
Originally published as part of Midsummer Night Dreams in Vol. 2 of The Poetical Works of James Hogg : two lines censored in 1822 are here restored
No. III The Wife of Lochmaben
Originally published in No. 18 of The Spy: greatly expanded here
No. IV Cousin Mattie
First publication here
No. V Welldean Hall
First publication here
No. VI Tibby Johnston's Wraith
First publication here
Reception
The reviewers generally accorded Winter Evening Tales a favourable reception. The depiction of rural life was admired as truthful and vivacious, but there were many objections to what was seen as Hogg's coarseness. Of the two longest novellas, 'The Bridal of Polmood' and 'Basil Lee', the former was preferred as more artistically finished in contrast to the latter's lack of refinement.
