Publisher's Synopsis
The Brownie of Bodsbeck (1818) is the first (short) novel by James Hogg. Set in the Scottish Borders in 1685 it presents a sympathetic picture of the persecuted Covenanters and a harsh view of the Royalists led by Clavers (Claverhouse). It draws extensively on local superstitions
It is not known for certain when Hogg composed The Brownie of Bodsbeck. It may have been in existence, or at least in contemplation, as early as 1813.[1] The work was probably one of The Rural and Traditional Tales of Scotland that Hogg informed William Blackwood at the beginning of 1817 were ready to be printed.[2] The Brownie was making its way through the press in January 1818, and it is clear from Hogg's letters to Blackwood that the material he is providing in batches consists of a transcription of an earlier manuscript: the amount of revision is unspecified.[3] The date of composition of The Brownie is particularly important because Hogg claimed that, contrary to popular assumption, his novel was composed before the very different treatment of the period by Walter Scott in Old Mortality, which appeared in December 1816 with a much less sympathetic view of the Covenanters and a distinctly less harsh depiction of Claverhouse.[4]
