"Anne Home (Anne Hunter, 1742-1821) as The Pensive Muse". Engraving by William Wynne Ryland (1738-1783), 1767, after Angelica Kaufmann (1741-1807). Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
Anne Hunter (1742 - 7 January 1821) was a Scottish poet.
Life[]
Hunter was born Anne Home, the eldest daughter of military surgeon Robert Boyne Home of Greenlaw Castle, Berwickshire, and sister of Sir Everard Home.[1]
She married surgeon and anatomist John Hunter in July 1771. She had 4 children, of whom 2 (a son and a daughter, Lady Campbell) survived her.[1]
Before her marriage she had gained some note as a lyrical poetess, her "Flower of the Forest" appearing in The Lark, an Edinburgh periodical, in 1765.[1] Her social literary parties were among the most enjoyable of her time, though not always to her husband's taste. Elizabeth Carter and Mary Delany were her attached friends.[2]
On her husband's death in 1793, Mrs. Hunter was left ill provided for, and for some time she was indebted for a maintenance partly to the queen's bounty and to the generosity of Dr. Maxwell Garthshore, and partly to the sale of her husband's furniture, library, and curiosities.[3] Her son-in-law, Sir James Campbell of Inverneill, provided her with a small annuity.[2]
She lived in retirement in London till her death.[2]
Writing[]
Her Poems (12mo, London, 1802; 2nd edition, 1803) show no depth of thought, but have a natural feeling and simplicity of expression, which make many of them worth reading.[4] Her Sports of the Genii, written in 1797 to a set of graceful drawings by Miss Susan Macdonald (died 1803), eldest daughter of Sir Archibald Macdonald, 1st Baronet, display in addition humor and fancy.[2]
Recognition[]
Joseph Haydn set a number of her songs to music, including "My Mother bids me bind my Hair," originally written to an air of Pleydell's.[2]
In 1799 Parliament voted to give her ₤15,000 for the Hunterian museum, which finally placed Mrs. Hunter in fair circumstances.[2]
Publications[]
- Poems (as Mrs. John Hunter). London: T. Bensley, for T. Payne, 1802.
- The Sports of the Genii (as Mrs. John Hunter). London: T. Payne, 1804.
- The Life and Poems of Anne Hunter: Haydn's tuneful voice (edited by Caroline Grigson). Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2009.
Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.[5]
See also[]
The Mermaid's Song - Joseph Haydn
References[]
Bettany, George Thomas (1891) "Anne Hunter" in Lee, Sidney Dictionary of National Biography 28 London: Smith, Elder, pp. 284-285
Notes[]
External links[]
- Poems
- "My mother bids me bind my hair" in A Book of Women's Verse
- Anne Hunter 1742-1821 at the Poetry Foundation
- Anne Hunter (17442-1821) info & 7 poems at English Poetry, 1579-1830
- Anne Hunter at the Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive (full text of Poems)
- Anne Hunter at PoemHunter (58 poems)
- Audio / video
- About
- Anne Home Hunter (1742-1821): Foremother Poet
- Anne Hunter: Poet, Songwriter, Wife
- The Life and Poems of Anne Hunter: Haydn's tuneful voice at Liverpool University Press
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, the Dictionary of National Biography (edited by Leslie Stephen). London: Smith, Elder, 1885-1900. Original article is at: Hunter, Anne
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