HOGG, JAMES, a Scottish poet, born in Ettrick; had little or no schooling; was bred a shepherd; took to rhyming; fell in with Sir Walter Scott, whom he assisted with his “Border Minstrelsy”; rented a farm, and first came into notice by the publication of his poem, the “Queen’s Wake”; he wrote in prose as well as poetry, with humour as well as no little graphic power; “was,” says Carlyle, “a little red-skinned stiff sack of a body, with two little blue or grey eyes that sparkled, if not with thought, yet with animation; was a real product of nature” (1782-1835).

HOHENLINDEN, a village in Upper Bavaria, 20 m.  E. of Muenich; celebrated as the scene of a victory by the French under Moreau over the Austrians under Archduke John on 3rd December 1800.

HOHENSTAUFFENS, THE, the third dynasty of the Romish kaisers, which held the imperial throne from 1138 to 1254, commencing with Frederick I., or Barbarossa, and ending with Conrad IV., five in all; derived their name from a castle on the Hohenstauffen Berg, by the left bank of the Danube, 30 m. below Stuttgart.

HOHENZOLLERNS, THE, the family which in 1415 became Electors of Brandenburg, kings of Prussia, and are now at length emperors of Germany; derived their name from an old castle so called near the springs of the Danube, a little way north from Constance and its lake.

HOLBACH, BARON VON, a French philosophe born in Heidelsheim, in the Palatinate, of wealthy parents; lived from youth all his days in Paris, kept a good table, and entertained all the “Encyclopedie” notabilities at his board; wrote “Systeme de la Nature,” and was a materialist in philosophy and an atheist in religion, but a kind-hearted man (1723-1789).

HOLBEIN, HANS, a German painter, born at Augsburg, trained by his father; attracted the attention of Erasmus, who took a great interest in him, and persuaded him to go to England, and introduced him to Sir Thomas More, who in turn introduced him to Henry VIII.; here under Henry’s patronage he remained, executing numerous portraits of his courtiers, till his death of the plague; his “Last Supper” and “Dance of Death” are well known (1497-1554).

HOLBERG, LUDWIG, BARON, an eminent Danish author, born at Bergen, in Norway; graduated at Copenhagen, where, after travel, he became professor of Metaphysics; subsequently he held in turn the chairs of Eloquence and of History; he was an author of great versatility, excelling as a writer of satires, comedies, and as historian of Church and State; his autobiography is an interesting work, and many of his plays and other works are among the accepted classics of Danish literature (1684-1754).

HOLCROFT, THOMAS, journalist and political novelist, born in London; began life as an actor; wrote “Road to Ruin”; was charged with treason, but acquitted; left “Memoirs” (1744-1809).