Anne Barnard (1750-1825). Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
| Lady Anne Barnard | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
Anne Lindsay December 12 1750 Balcarres House, Fife |
| Died |
May 6 1825 (aged 74) London, England |
| Occupation | poet, visual artist |
| Notable works | Auld Robin Gray |
Lady Anne Barnard (12 December 1750 - 6 May 1825) was a Scottish-born English poet, prose writer, and artist. She was author of the ballad Auld Robin Gray and an accomplished travel writer, artist, and socialite of the period. Her 5-year residence in Cape Town, South Africa, although brief, had a significant impact on the cultural and social life of the time.[1]
Life[]
Overview[]
She was born Anne Lindsay, eldest daughter of James Lindsay, 5th Earl of Balcarres, at Balcarres House, Fife, Scotland. She moved to London where she met and was married in 1793 to Andrew Barnard, [2] 12 years her junior, a son of Thomas Barnard, the Bishop of Limerick, for whom she obtained from Henry Dundas (1st Viscount Melville) an appointment as colonial secretary at the Cape of Good Hope, which was then under British military occupation. The Barnards travelled there in March 1797, Lady Anne remaining at the Cape until January 1802. She is retained in popular memory as a socialite, known for entertaining at the Castle of Good Hope as the official hostess of Governor Earl Macartney. In 1806, on the reconquest of the Cape by the United Kingdom, Barnard was reappointed colonial secretary, but Lady Anne did not accompany him there; he died at the Cape in 1807. The rest of her life was passed in London, where she died on 6 May 1825.[3]
Youth and education[]
Drawing by Lady Barnard, of "Paradise", her South African residence. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
Oil painting by Lady Barnard, subject unknown. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
Barnard was born Anne Lindsay, the eldest daughter of James Lindsay, 5th earl of Balcorres, by his wife Anne, daughter of Sir Robert Dalrymple, of Castleton. She was born on 8 December 1750.[4]
Her youth was mainly spent at her home in Fifeshire, with occasional winter-flights to Edinburgh. She early gained admission into the social circle within which moved Hume and Henry Mackenzie, Lord Monboddo, and other celebrities. When Dr. Johnson visited Edinburgh in 1773 she was introduced to him. Later she and her sister — Lady Margaret, the widow of Alexander Fordyce — resided in London.[4]
Her nephew, Colonel Lindsay of Balcarres, states that she had been frequently sought in marriage; but that it was not until Andrew Barnard, son of Thomas, bishop of Limerick, addressed her, that she changed her resolution of living a maiden life. She was married in 1793. Her husband was younger than herself; accomplished, but poor.[4]
The young couple proceeded to the Cape of Good Hope, when Barnard was appointed colonial secretary under Lord Macartney. Her 'Journals and Notes,' illustrated with drawings and sketches whilst at the Cape, are printed in the Lives of the Lindsays (vol. iii.) Her husband died at the Cape in 1807, without issue.[4]
Once more her sister and herself resided in Berkeley Square, London, till Lady Margaret was married a 2nd time, in 1812, to Sir James Bland Burges. The sisters' house was a literary centre. Burke and Sheridan, Windham and Dundas, and the Prince of Wales, were among their habitual visitors. Lady Anne had the dubious honour of winning the lifelong attachment of the prince regent.[4]
Lady Anne Barnard died in London 6 May 1825, in her 74th year.[5]
Writing[]
Her letters written to Dundas, then secretary for war and the colonies, from Cape Town, and her diaries of travels into the interior, have become an important source of information about the people, events and social life of the time. The remarkable series of letters, journals and drawings she produced was published in 1901 under the title South Africa a Century Ago.[3]
"Auld Robin Gray"[]
The ballad of "Auld Robin Gray," which has given immortality to her name, was composed by her in 1771 (when she was in her 21st year),[4] to music by the Rev. William Leeves (1748-1828), as he admitted in 1812. It was published anonymously in 1783,[3] and various persons claimed its authorship, among others a clergyman. Not until 2 years before her death did Lady Barnard acknowledge it as her own. The occasion has become historical. In the Pirate, which appeared in 1823, Scott compared the condition of Minna to that of Jeanie Gray, "the village heroine in Lady Anne Lindsay's beautiful ballad," and quoted the 2nd verse of the continuation. This led Lady Anne to write to Sir Walter and confide its history to him.[4]
In her letter, dated 8 July 1823, she says:
- Robin Gray, so called from its being the name of the old herd at Balcarres, was born soon after the close of the year 1771. My sister Margaret had married, and accompanied her husband to London. I was melancholy, and endeavoured to amuse myself by attempting a few poetical trifles. There was an English-Scotch melody of which I was passionately fond. Sophy Johnstone, who lived before your day, used to sing it to us at Balcarres. She did not object to its having improper words,[4] though I did. I longed to sing old Sophy's air to different words, and give its plaintive tones some little history of virtuous distress in humble life, such as might suit it. While attempting to effect this in my closet, I called to my little sister [Elizabeth], now Lady Hardwicke, who was the only person near me, "I have been writing a ballad, my dear; I am oppressing my heroine with many misfortunes. I have already sent her Jamie to sea, mad broken her father's arm, and made her mother fall sick, and given her auld Robin Gray for a lover; but I wish to load her with a fifth sorrow within the four lines, poor thing! Help me to one!" "Steal the cow, sister Anna," said the little Elizabeth. The cow was immediately lifted by me, and the song completed. At our fireside and amongst our neighbours "Auld Robin Gray" was always called for. I was pleased in secret with the approbation it met with: but such was my dread of being suspected that I carefully kept my own secret.[5]
Scott prepared a thin quarto volume for the Bannatyne Club (1824), which contains Lady Anne's narrative of the composition of the ballad, a revised version of it, and 2 of Lady Anna's continuations. The continuations, as in so many cases, are not worthy of the original.[5]
Recognition[]
Lady Anne is commemorated in several ways in Cape Town. A chamber in the Castle of Good Hope is known as "Lady Anne Barnard's Ballroom"; a road in the suburb of Newlands, where the Barnards lived, is named "Lady Anne Avenue"; and a carved effigy of her is displayed in the foyer of the civic centre in the neighbouring suburb of Claremont. The Barnards' country house, The Vineyard, survives as part of a hotel.
"Auld Robin Gray" was included in the Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250-1900.[6]
Publications[]
Poetry[]
- Auld Robin Gray. Edinburgh: James Ballantyne, 1825.[7]
Letters[]
- South Africa a Century ago: Letters written from the Cape of Good Hope, 1791-1801 (edited by W.H. Wilkins). London: Smith, Elder / New York: Dodd Mead, 1901.[8]
See also[]
Auld Robin Gray, Hob. XXXIa-168
References[]
Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). "Barnard, Lady Anne". Encyclopædia Britannica. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 409.- Grosart, Alexander Balloch (1885) "Barnard, Anne" in Stephen, Leslie Dictionary of National Biography 3 London: Smith, Elder, pp. 236-237 . Wikipedia, Web, Apr. 21, 2021.
- Taylor, Stephen, Defiance: The extraordinary life of Lady Anne Bernard. New York: Norton, 2017.
Fonds[]
- Archival material relating to Anne Barnard listed at the UK National Register of Archives
Notes[]
- ↑ The Claremont Clarion (June, 2010)
- ↑ Not related to General Sir Andrew Francis Barnard.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Britannica 1911, 409.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 Grosart, 236.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Grosart, 237.
- ↑ Lady Anne Lindsay, "Auld Robin Gray", Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250-1900. Bartleby.com Web, Oct. 20, 2011.
- ↑ Auld Robin Gray (1825), Internet Archive. Web, July 1, 2013.
- ↑ Lady Anne Lindsay Barnard, Online Books Page, University of Pennsylvania. Web, July 1, 2013.
External links[]
- Poems
- Books
- Anne Lindsay Barnard at the Online Books Page
- Anne Lindsay Barnard at Amazon.com
- About
- Anne Bernard biography at BiographyBase
- Lady Anne Bernard at Electric Scotland
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, the Dictionary of National Biography (edited by Leslie Stephen & Sidney Lee). London: Smith, Elder, 1885-1900. Original article is at: Barnard, Anne
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, the 1911 Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica.. Original article is at Barnard, Lady Anne
|