Nelly Blair
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Nelly Blair | |
|---|---|
| Born | Ayrshire, Scotland |
| Died | Scotland |
| Occupation | Wife to john smith |
Nelly Blair, later Nelly Smith (1759–1820) is sometimes suggested as being Scottish poet Robert Burns' first love.[1]
Burns himself did not identify his 'Handsome Nell' by name. Nelly Kilpatrick has been suggested as being Burns's first romantic love, but some significant doubts exist about the true identity of this individual. It was thought to be a Nelly Blair until Burns's sister Isabella gave the name Nelly Kilpatrick,[2][3] however Isobel was only three years old at the time of Burns's association with Nelly and some doubt must be cast on her recollections at this stage in her life.[2]
Life and character
Burns stated that Nelly had a sweet voice and was wont to sing songs as she worked in the fields.[4]
The first reference to Nelly's identity by the Reverend Hamilton Paul of Ayr in 1819 records that: "This nymph was afterwards married to a Carrick farmer, and became the mother of many sons and daughters, and who, when we saw her in 1811, still retained the characteristics of sonsieness, which so fascinated her helpmate in the work of the harvest as to betray him into the sin of rhyme. She sung delightfully, and he wrote a copy of verses to her favourite air or reel."[2]
A parish record at Dreghorn records that a Helen Blair married a Carrick farmer, John Smith on 13 December 1788 and a daughter Helen was born at Dailly on 18 February 1789.[2] Several other children were born in subsequent years.
In 1828 an anonymous letter to The Scotsman related that a friend of the writer had been a significant landowner in Ayrshire and that Robert Burns had been a frequent visitor to his kitchen and had written many songs about Nelly Blair, a servant in the house.[2]
