The Shepherd's Dog

James Hogg, the shepherd poet, had a dog named Sirrah, who was for many

years his sole companion. He was, the shepherd says, the best dog he ever

saw, in spite of his surly manners and unprepossessing appearance. The

first time he saw the dog, a drover was leading him by a rope, and,

although hungry and lean, "I thought," Hogg tells us, "I discovered a sort

of sullen intelligence in his face, so I gave the drover a guinea for him.< r />
I believe there never was a guinea so well laid out. He was scarcely then

a year old, and knew nothing of herding; but as soon as he discovered that

it was his duty to do so, I can never forget with what eagerness he

learned. He would try every way till he found out what I wanted him to do;

and when once I made him to understand a direction, he never forgot or

mistook it again."



About seven hundred lambs, which were at once under Mr. Hogg's care, broke

up at midnight, and scampered off in three divisions across the hills, in

spite of all that the shepherd and an assistant lad could do to keep them

together. "Sirrah," cried the shepherd, in great affliction, "my man,

they're a' awa." The night was so dark that he did not see Sirrah; but the

faithful animal had heard his master's words, and without more ado he set

off in quest of the flock. The shepherd and his companion spent the whole

night in scouring the hills, but of neither the lambs nor Sirrah could

they obtain the slightest trace. "We had nothing for it," says the

shepherd, "but to return to our master, and inform him that we had lost

his whole flock of lambs. On our way home, however, we discovered a body

of lambs at the bottom of a deep ravine, and Sirrah standing in front of

them, looking all around for some relief. We concluded that it was one of

the divisions of the lambs which Sirrah had been unable to manage until he

came to that commanding situation. But what was our astonishment when we

discovered by degrees that not one was wanting! How he had got all the

divisions collected in the dark is beyond my comprehension. I never felt

so grateful to any creature below the sun as I did to my honest Sirrah

that morning."