Lady Charlotte Elliot (22 July 1839 – 15 January 1880), born Charlotte Carnegie, was a Scottish poet born on 22 July 1839 in the parish of

Farnell, Angus Farnell is a village in Angus, Scotland. It lies 2 miles south of the River South Esk, between Brechin Brechin (; gd, Breichin) is a city and former Royal burgh in Angus, Scotland. Traditionally Brechin was described as a city because of i ...

(possibly at Kinnaird Castle). Despair and abandonment are prominent in her three volumes.

Early life

She was a daughter of Sir James Carnegie, 5th Baronet (1799–1849) and Charlotte Lysons. Her maternal grandfather was Reverend

Daniel Lysons Daniel Lysons may refer to: *Daniel Lysons (antiquarian) (1762–1834), English antiquarian and topographer *Daniel Lysons (British Army officer) General Sir Daniel Lysons (1 August 1816 – 29 January 1898) was a British Army general who achieve ...

. Charlotte was thus a younger sister to James Carnegie, 9th Earl of Southesk. In 1855, Charlotte was raised to the social rank of an earl's daughter by royal warrant, which granting her the courtesy title of '' Lady''.

Poetry

A few years after the death of her first husband, she published her first volume of poetry, ''Stella, and other poems'' (1867), under the pseudonym "Florenz". The eponymous poem in the collection, "Stella", is set in the Italian Peninsula and features the doomed love of Count Marone and Stella. He is a man seeking

Italian unification The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single ...

, she a daughter of the Neapolitan aristocracy, which is resisting this cause. Her early death causes her lover to seek the perils of the battlefield in an attempt to distract his mind. The subject matter is similar to '' Maud'' (1855) by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Other poems in the collection seem to be focused on themes of "intense and painful experience". Examples are "Desolate", concerning the emotions of a person abandoned by a lover, and "The Prayer of the Penitent", dealing with experience of

shame Shame is an unpleasant self-conscious emotion often associated with negative self-evaluation; motivation to quit; and feelings of pain, exposure, distrust, powerlessness, and worthlessness. Definition Shame is a discrete, basic emotion, d ...

before

God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

). A decade after her second marriage, Charlotte published her second volume of poetry, ''Medusa, and other poems'' (1878), under her married name and dedicated to Frederick. The eponymous poem "Medusa" features the

Medusa In Greek mythology, Medusa (; Ancient Greek: Μέδουσα "guardian, protectress"), also called Gorgo, was one of the three monstrous Gorgons, generally described as winged human females with living venomous snakes in place of hair. Those ...

Classical mythology Classical mythology, Greco-Roman mythology, or Greek and Roman mythology is both the body of and the study of myths from the ancient Greeks and ancient Romans as they are used or transformed by cultural reception. Along with philosophy and pol ...

, with whom it sympathises, noting the experiences of "days of despair" and "unspeakable woe" from the time of her transformation to her death at the hands of

Perseus In Greek mythology, Perseus (Help:IPA/English, /ˈpɜːrsiəs, -sjuːs/; Greek language, Greek: Περσεύς, Romanization of Greek, translit. Perseús) is the legendary founder of Mycenae and of the Perseid dynasty. He was, alongside Cadmus ...

. The other poems in the collections are

melancholic Melancholia or melancholy (from el, µέλαινα χολή ',Burton, Bk. I, p. 147 meaning black bile) is a concept found throughout ancient, medieval and premodern medicine in Europe that describes a condition characterized by markedly d ...

tales "on time, love and death". A third volume of her poetry, ''Mary Magdalene and other poems'' (1880), was published posthumously. As she had requested, only fifty copies were printed.

Personal life

In 1860, Charlotte married her first husband, Thomas Fotheringham. She was widowed in 1864. In 1868, Charlotte married her second husband, Frederick Boileau Elliot, who was the fifth son of Admiral George Elliot and Eliza Cecilia Ness. His father was a younger brother of the 2nd Earl of Minto. Together, Lady Charlotte and Frederick were the parents of one surviving son: * Gilbert Compton Elliot (1871–1931), who went on to serve in the

Black Watch The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS) is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The regiment was created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881, when the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regim ...

, reaching the rank of

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

; he married American heiress Marguerite "Rita" Barbey (1876–1955), a daughter of Mary Lorillard Barbey and Henry Isaac Barbey. Charlotte died on 15 January 1880. Her husband died on 23 December of the same year.

List of works

*''Stella, and other poems'' (1867). *''Medusa, and other poems'' (1878). *''Mary Magdalene and other poems'' (1880).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elliot, Lady Charlotte 1839 births 1880 deaths People from Angus, Scotland 19th-century Scottish poets 19th-century Scottish women writers Victorian poets Victorian women writers Victorian writers 19th-century British women writers Scottish women poets Daughters of baronets