“Having been bred amongst mountains I am always unhappy when in a flat country. Whenever the skirts of the horizon come on a level with myself I feel myself quite uneasy and generally have a headache.”

Expressing a deep, almost physical attachment to the hills of his native Ettrick and the unease of lowland life · Letter to Sir Walter Scott, 25 July 1802

• Home
• Nature
• Scotland

“A shepherd may be a very able, trusty, and good shepherd, without a sweetheart—better, perhaps, than with one. But what is he without his dog?”

On the indispensable partnership between shepherd and dog · Writings on shepherding

• Animals
• Companionship
• Work

“It is impossible for me to express the supreme glow of delight that your approval has afforded me. [...] really I felt all my hair creep on my head, and stand upright like a bottle brush.”

Describing the physical thrill of receiving praise from a celebrated contemporary · Letter to Lord Byron, 7 March 1812

• Ambition
• Poetry
• Praise