at the end of ¾ of an hour add to it the heart and lights. Chop half the liver, chop the remainder and the heart and lights finely, mix all together, add the oatmeal, onions, salt, pepper, nutmeg, lemon-juice and stock. Turn these ingredients into the paunch, sew up the opening, taking care that sufficient space is left for the oatmeal to swell: if the paunch be over-full, there is a possibility of its bursting. Put the haggis into boiling water, and cook gently for about 3 hours; during the first hour it should be occasionally pricked with a needle, to allow the air to escape. As a rule, neither sauce nor gravy is served with a haggis. When a small dish is required, a lamb's paunch and pluck may be substituted for those of the sheep's.
Time.—To boil the haggis, 3 hours. Average Cost, 2s. 9d. to 3s. 9d. Sufficient for 8 or 9 persons.
1061.—SHEEP'S BRAINS WITH PARSLEY SAUCE. (Fr.—Cervelles de Mouton à la Maître d'Hôtel.)
Ingredients.—6 sheep's brains, 1 pint of white stock, 2 ozs. of butter, 1½ ozs. of flour, 1 teaspoonful of finely-chopped parsley, 1 teaspoonful of lemon-juice, ½ a small onion, 1 small carrot, 1 bay-leaf, salt and pepper.
Method.—Soak the brains in salt and water for 2 hours, then remove the skin and fibres, cover them with boiling water, and boil for 3 minutes. Replace the brains in fresh cold water, let them remain until cold, then put them into the boiling stock, add the onion and carrot sliced, bay-leaf, salt and pepper to taste, and simmer gently for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a stewpan, add the flour, and cook these for 3 or 4 minutes without browning. Drain the brains, and strain the stock on to the flour and butter, stir until boiling, simmer for 10 minutes, add the lemon-juice and seasoning to taste. Re-heat the brains in the sauce, and just before serving add the lemon-juice.
Time.—½ an hour, after the brains are blanched. Average Cost, 1s. 9d. to 2s. Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons.
The Ettrick Shepherd.—James Hogg, more commonly known as the "Ettrick Shepherd," from the place of his birth in Selkirkshire, was one of the most remarkable men who ever wore the shepherd's maud. Under the garb, aspect, and bearing of an uncultured peasant—for his early education was of the most scanty description—the world discovered a true poet. Sir Walter Scott, who became interested in Hogg through some of his rhymings which came to the baronet's notice, induced him to publish a volume of ballads, under the title of the Mountain Bard. The Queen's Wake, which contains the charming ballad of "Kilmeny," appeared in 1813, and established Hogg's reputation. It was followed by other poetic and prose works, including The Pilgrims of the Sun, The Border Garland, Lay Sermons, etc. His poetry is characterized by richness of description, delicate imagination, and sweet intensity of pathos. If the shepherd of Professor Wilson's "Noctes Ambrosianae" may be regarded as a true potrait of James Hogg, the poet of Ettrick Forest possessed a rare quaintness of humor. Sir Walter Scott affirmed that Hogg's innumerable little touches of absurdity afforded him more entertainment than the most laughable comedy. Among the productions of the shepherd-poet is an account of his own experiences in sheep-tending, called The Shepherd's Calendar. This work contains a vast amount of useful information on sheep, their diseases, habits and management. The Ettrick Shepherd died in 1835.
