Hi Matt No not he, I have racked my brain but cannot recall who it was but I know it was a household name as well known as Milton He was the son of ag lab parents and taught himself while working as a shepherd, I wish I could remember who it was now If I do I will let you know Best wishes Nivard Ovington, in Cornwall (UK) > <<I cannot recall his name but recall reading of a well known poet who > taught > himself to read while working as a shepherd of ag lab parents? (perhaps > someone else knows his name?)>> > > > You might be thinking of John Clare, the ag lab poet from Helpston in > Northants (1793-1864).? He wasn't a shepherd, but his third book of poems > was entitled The Shepherd's Calendar.? His mother (the daughter of a > shepherd) was illiterate but his father (the illegitimate child of an > itinerant schoolmaster) could read a little - however John himself learnt > to read and write in school, first at the local dame-school in Helpston > and later a vestry school in nearby Glinton.? He did gain his interest in > poetry while working in the fields, though - when the son of a farmer he > worked for read a poem to him. > > Matt Tompkins

<<No not he, I have racked my brain but cannot recall who it was but I know it was a household name as well known as Milton.? He was the son of ag lab parents and taught himself while working as a shepherd, I wish I could remember who it was now>> James Hogg, the 'Ettrick Shepherd' (1770-1835)?? His formal schooling ended almost as soon as it as it began, at the age of 6, when his father became bankrupt, and I see from his DNB biography that 'he began once again to master the long-neglected skill of reading' when he became a shepherd in his late teens. Matt ________________________________________________________________________ AOL Email goes Mobile! You can now read your AOL Emails whilst on the move. Sign up for a free AOL Email account with unlimited storage today.