A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Nairne, Carolina

Nairne, Carolina (OLIPHANT), Baroness (1766-1845). -- B. at the House of Gask ("the auld house"), m. in 1806 her second cousin, Major Nairne, who on reversal of attainder became 5th Lord Nairne. On his death, after residing in various places in England, Ireland, and on the Continent, she settled at the new house of Gask (the old one having been pulled down in 1801). Of her songs -- 87 in number -- many first appeared anonymously in The Scottish Minstrel (1821-24); a collected ed. with her name, under the title of Lays' from Strathearn, was pub. after her death. Although the songs, some of which were founded on older compositions, had from the first an extraordinary popularity, the authoress maintained a strict anonymity during her life. For direct simplicity and poetic feeling Lady N. perhaps comes nearer than any other Scottish song-writer to Burns, and many of her lyrics are enshrined in the hearts of her fellow-countrymen. Among the best of them are The Land of the Leal (1798), Caller Herrin', The Laird o' Cockpen, The Auld House, The Rowan Tree, The Hundred Pipers, and Will ye no come back Again? The Jacobitism of some of these and many others was, of course, purely sentimental and poetical, like that of Scott. She was a truly religious and benevolent character, and the same modesty which concealed her authorship withdrew from public knowledge her many deeds of charity.