Scottish literary academics from the Universities of Glasgow and Stirling have been awarded an impressive grant of around £158k from the Arts and Humanities Research (AHRC) to re-work the writings and music of acclaimed Scottish writer James Hogg.

Dr Kirsteen McCue of the Department of Scottish Literature at the University of Glasgow will work closely with Douglas Mack, Emeritus Professor in the University of Stirling's Department of English Studies, on the three year project starting from this September. The project aims to bring together texts and music for Hogg's songs in an altogether new way. The research undertaken by this team will culminate in Dr McCue's editing of Hogg's "Songs by the Ettrick Shepherd" (1831) and "Miscellaneous Songs" for the critically acclaimed Stirling/South Carolina (S/SC) Research Edition of the Collected Works of James Hogg (1770-1835) published by Edinburgh University Press.

Dr Kirsteen McCue comments:

"In recent decades there has been a spectacular revival of Hogg's reputation, and his Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner is now widely regarded as one of the greatest and most popular of all Scottish novels. However, Hogg's very valuable contribution to the Scottish song tradition remains under-researched and undervalued. Like his hero Robert Burns before him, Hogg was both a collector of traditional Scottish song and a song-writer in his own right."

"The AHRC award will fund research that will clarify and publicise Hogg's magnificent contribution to the Scottish song tradition."

The S/SC Edition of Hogg's works has already produced seventeen of what will eventually run to thirty-six hardback volumes. Each of these rigorously researched scholarly editions are uncovering the full extent of Hogg's literary talents. Of the volumes published, eight have already been re-issued in paperback by Edinburgh University Press to address the lack of popular authentic editions of Hogg's work.

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First published: 20 September 2005