The poetry of Helen Craik (17511825), Gothic novelist and friend of Robert Burns, was long thought lost. The rediscovery of her manuscript Poems by a Lady (1790), transcribed and annotated here for the first time, invites a fresh evaluation of her life and work. From short satires and verse-letters to longer dramatic monologues of psychological introspection, these thirty-nine poems offer an invaluable insight into her social circle in the Dumfries area and her wide literary interests, demonstrating the distinctive imagination later seen in Craiks novels. The introduction discusses Craiks biography and the major themes in her work, casting new light on why, two years after finishing these poems, she suddenly left home and family. With full notes on each poems background, and additional source material, this volume adds significantly to Craik scholarship and to the critical reassessment of poetry by Scottish women in the Romantic era.
Preface and Acknowledgements
List of illustrations
Introduction
Poems by a Lady: The Beinecke Manuscript
The manuscript title-page
Inscriptions
To Captain Riddell
Lines Written at Sea by the late Queen of Denmark during her Passage to
Stade1772
To R. O. Esqr
To Lady W: M: Constable, with a Bird of Paradise
Intended to be sent with a Neck Pin which was made with three Golden Balls
The following Lines were supposed to be written by Mr. Hackman while under
sentence of Death for the murder of Miss Reay1779
To Mr. D: from Goat Whey Quarters
To a Lady
To a Gentleman
Written by Charlotte at Werters Grave
A Charadeto Mr. D:
The Soldiers JoyA Song
To a GentlemanWritten after riding through a Mountainous part of the
country
The Rt Honble: the Earl of Caithness to Miss D:
To Lady
Lines written upon a blank leaf of Mr. Burnss Poems
To a Lady Sent with a few Flowers, in return for some beautiful artificial
ones
A Charade
To Indifference
Lines written in a Summer House, under the Initial Letters of a Gentlemans
name
To Captain Riddell
The Maid of Enterkin (Preface)
The Maid of Enterkin
The Following Lines were occasioned by a Humourous Court Martial held and
written by two Officers on some Ladies who had disobliged them
To Miss D
Lines Written upon Hearing a Gentleman Complain of the Instability of Human
Friendships
To Miss M: M:
Lines Written upon the Death of J: H: in the East Indies
The Ghost of Queen Maryoccasioned by a beautiful Poem, written and sent me
by Mr. Burns
HelenAn old Scots Tale (Preface)
HelenAn Epistle to a Friend
To Sir W.G. Baronetwritten upon his sending me his Profile some years ago
Lines occasioned by a reperusal of the foregoing Epistle to Sir W.G.
Baronetwritten some years afterwards
To a Gentleman
Epitaph Upon the Honourable Mrs S
The Indian MaidA TaleIntended for a Companion to the Harp
The Indian MaidPart Second
An Epitaph on a Friend
The Monk of la TrappeA Tale (Preface)
The Monk of la TrappeA TaleWritten by himself, and found in his cell
Lines Written upon hearing that a circle of Mr. E***s intimate friends had
received the accounts of his death with the utmost indifference
Lines written extempore, occasioned by a perusal of Mr. B****s Travels
Appendix I: Helen Craiks Memoirs of Her Family
Letter, Miss Craik to James Grierson, Esq., dated Flimby, 13th April, 1810
Letter, Miss Craik to James Grierson, Esq., dated Flimby, May 1810
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine (1811)
Appendix II: George Neilson, Samuel Arnott, and The Romance of Helen Craik
Samuel Arnott, Extracts from Some Kirkbean folklore
George S. Neilson, The Maid of Enterkin: Poems by
Helen Craik and Burnsiana
Part 1: The Maid of Enterkin
Part 2: The Social and Literary Circle, 17901793
A Card from J. M., Esq.
Part 3: Old and New: A Monody to Davie
Robert Burns, Written in a Window at Stirling
[ Robert Burns, attrib.], A Monody on the Fatal 29th Decr., 1789
Samuel Arnott, The romance of Helen Craik of Arbigland
Extracts: Lines Written in the Summerhouse at Arbigland, 15 February 1792
Lines addressed to Miss Young on receiving a present of a Tartan
Handkerchief
Extracts: Lines Addressed to Miss Staig with the foregoing Poems
Writings by and about Helen Craik, with other sources cited and consulted
Index of Titles and First Lines
