Elizabeth, Lady Wardlaw (1677–1727) was a Scottish poet and the reputed author of the ballad ''Hardyknute''.
Biography
Elizabeth was born on 15 April 1677, the second daughter of Sir Charles Halket, baronet, of Pitfirran, Fife, and his wife Janet, daughter of Sir Patrick Murray. In 1696 she married
Sir Henry Wardlaw, 4th Baronet, of
Pitreavie and together they had three daughters and a son.
The
ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...
of ''Hardyknute'', published in 1719 as an old poem, was supposed to have been discovered by her in a vault at
Dunfermline
Dunfermline (; , ) is a city, parish, and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland, from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. Dunfermline was the de facto capital of the Kingdom of Scotland between the 11th and 15th centuries.
The earliest ...
, but no manuscript was ever produced. In 1724
Allan Ramsay Allan Ramsay may refer to:
*Allan Ramsay (poet) or Allan Ramsay the Elder (1686–1758), Scottish poet
*Allan Ramsay (artist)
Allan Ramsay (13 October 171310 August 1784) was a Scottish portrait Painting, painter.
Life and career
Ramsay w ...
included the poem in ''The Ever Green'', his anthology of Scottish poetry. In the 1767 edition of
Percy's ''
Reliques'' the poem was ascribed to Lady Wardlaw. The ballad of ''
Sir Patrick Spens
"Sir Patrick Spens" is one of the most popular of the Child Ballads (No. 58) (Roud Folk Song Index, Roud 41), and is of Scotland, Scottish origin. It is a maritime ballad about a disaster at sea.
Background
''Sir Patrick Spens'' remains one of ...
'' (
F. J. Child, ''English and Scottish Popular Ballads'', ii. 17) has also been asserted to be her work, one of the supporters of the theory being
Robert Chambers (''Remarks on Scottish Ballads'', 1859). Dr. Emily Lyle suggests that Lady Wardlaw was familiar with a pre-existing version of ''Sir Patrick Spens'' and drew upon it in composing ''Hardyknute''.
[Lyle, Emily, ''The Ballad'', in Willcocks, Clive (Ed.) (2014), 'Sir Patric Spens: The Background of the Ballad and the Vision of the Artist - Robert Burns, Limner'', Dunfermline Heritage Community Projects, pp. 46 & 47]
References
Further reading
*
*
Scottish women poets
1677 births
1727 deaths
18th-century Scottish poets
Wives of baronets
Elizabeth
Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to:
People
* Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name)
* Empress Elisabeth (disambiguation), lists various empresses named ''Elisabeth'' or ''Elizabeth''
* Princess Elizabeth ...
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