Baillie, Lady Grisel

(1665-1746)

   Songwriter born at Redbraes Castle (Scottish Borders); the heroine of Joanna Baillie's poem "The Legend of Lady Griseld Baillie." She concealed her covenanting father, Sir Patrick Hume (1641-1724), in the church vaults in the border town of Polwarth (1684). After Robert Baillie's execution, Sir Patrick Hume (later Earl Marchmont) fled to Holland. When it was safe to return to Scotland, Lady Grisel married George Baillie, the son of Robert Baillie. Her The Household Book of Lady Grisell Baillie (edited by R. Scott-Moncrieff, Edinburgh, 1911) gives a remarkable insight into household management in the 18th century. She was the first deaconess of the Church of Scotland and the Deaconess Hospital in Edinburgh, now the headquarters of Lothian Health. The poem "And Werena My Heart Licht I Wad Dee" was possibly written at a time when she was parted from her lover in Holland.

   Sources: Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Early Modern Women Poets (1520-1700). Jane Stevenson and Peter Davidson, ed. Oxford University Press, 2001. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, 2006. The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org). The Literary Encyclopedia (www.LitEncyc.com).