Walter Scott was described as "the great magician who dwelleth in the old fastness, hard by the river Jordan, which is by the Border." Mackenzie, Jameson, Leslie, Brewster, Tytler, Alison, M'Crie, Playfair, Lord Murray, the Duncans--in fact, all the leading men of Edinburgh were hit off in the same fashion.
Mrs.Garden, in her "Memorials of James Hogg," says that "there is no doubt that Hogg wrote the first draft; indeed, part of the original is still in the possession of the family....

Some of the more irreverent passages were not his, or were at all events largely added to by others before publication." [Footnote: Mrs.Garden's "Memorials of James Hogg," p.

107.] In a recent number of _Blackwood_ it is said that: "Hogg's name is nearly associated with the Chaldee Manuscript.

Of course he claimed credit for having written the skit, and undoubtedly he originated the idea.

The rough draft came from his pen, and we cannot speak with certainty as to how it was subsequently manipulated.