James Hogg's Use Of Irony In Short Stories

Ossian
The Ossian controversy remains both a scandal and a mystery. Nevertheless, it stands for the fact that not all Scots covered themselves in glory, so a chapter on misdemeanours containing a range of essentially dubious characters each of whom performed a little sophistry from time to time is appropriate! They ranged from the odious Patrick Sellar to the mild trickery of Robert Allardice, but what they had in common was each one produced controversy in and after their times and perhaps reflected something of the darker side of the Scottish character and the Scottish way of life, particularly in relation to the Kirk and the supernatural. Enlightenment was at the same time washing away the stultifying effects of supernatural belief and the

That atmosphere was also prevalent around the country through Calvanism in Scottish veins which was sometimes a dark and repressive influence. It was of course present in literature such as Holy Willie’s Prayer by Burns and there is a glorious irony in James Hogg, author of Confessions of a Justified Sinner, being buried in the same Ettrick churchyard as Thomas Boston. Punishment was harsh in such an atmosphere and the smugglers Wilson and Robertson were to be executed leading to the infamous demise of Captain Porteous. Executions were public events and Allan Ramsay the poet was present at the execution of Wilson who had helped Robertson to escape and wrote an account of the

The village of Tinwald in Dumfriesshire was where Paterson was born. At the age of seventeen he moved to the Bahamas where he apparently got the inspiration for the ill-fated Darien Scheme. Just prior to the Darien disaster Paterson had moved to London, where he set up the Bank of England to act as the government’s bank, gaining a Royal Charter in 1694. Having failed to find any takers elsewhere Paterson returned to Scotland where he was able to convince the government of the efficacy of his scheme, and founded the Bank of Scotland for good measure. The colony that was founded on the Isthmus of Panama was a comprehensive disaster as survival, and not the intended trading route to the Far East, was the major focus. Paterson himself only just survived, although his wife and child did not. Back in Scotland, he now became involved in support for the Act of Union of