Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 02.djvu/426

 Murray of Stanhope, Lady Grizel's daughter, delightful glimpses are obtained of the bright though straitened life in Holland. Grizel was the manager of the humble establishment, and she used to tell in her old age that those years in Holland were about the happiest of all their lives.

At the Restoration, Lady Grizel was offered the post of maid of honour to the Princess of Orange. She preferred returning to Scotland, where, as already stated, she was married to her girlhood's love. George Baillie died at Oxford 6 Aug. 1738, after forty-six years of an incomparable married life. They had issue one son, who died in childhood, and two daughters: Grizel, who married Sir Alexander Murray of Stanhope; and Rachel, who married Charles, Lord Binning. From the latter are descended the earls of Haddington who represent to-day the great historic house of Baillie of Jerviswood and Mellerstain. There are few more charming `Memoirs' than that named of our Lady Grizel by her daughter. It was originally appended to Rose's Observations on Fox's historical work on James II, and afterwards republished in a thin quarto by Thomas Thomson (1822). From earliest youth Grizel was wont to write in verse and prose. Her daughter had in her possession a manuscript volume with varied compositions, 'many of them interrupted, half writ, some broken off in the middle of a sentence.' Some of her Scottish songs appeared in Allan Ramsay's 'Tea-Table Miscellany' and other collections of Scottish songs. One has passed into the song-literature of Scotland imperishably—'And werena my heart light I wad dee.' ' Its sudden inspiration,' says Tytler, `has fused and cast into one perfect line, the protest of thousands of stricken hearts in every generation' ( and Songstresses of Scotland). She died 6 Dec. 1746, in her eighty-first year, and was buried beside her husband at Mellerstain. Judge Burnet (Monboddo) wrote an inscription for her monument.



BAILLIE, JOANNA (1762–1851), dramatist and poet, was descended from an ancient Scotch family. She was born at the manse of Bothwell, Lanarkshire, 11 Sept. 1762. Although her birth was premature, and in infancy she was very delicate, she lived to the great age of 88 years. Her sister, to whom Joanna addressed a memorable birthday ode, was still more remarkable for her longevity, dying in 1861 at the age of 100 years. The Baillie family claimed amongst their progenitors on the male side the great patriot, Sir William Wallace. The mother of Joanna Baillie was the sister of William and John Hunter. The youth of Joanna was spent at Bothwell amidst scenes which deeply impressed the imagination of the future dramatist. But while, as daughter of the minister of Bothwell, she had many opportunities for studying character, unfortunately, in the manse itself, `repression of all emotions seems to have been the constant lesson.' In 1769 Dr. Baillie was appointed to the collegiate church of Hamilton. Before she was ten years of age Joanna Baillie afforded striking proofs of courage; but she was somewhat backward in her studies, although her intellect was unusually keen. At the age of ten she was sent to a school in Glasgow, and here her faculties were rapidly developed. She excelled in vocal and instrumental music, and evinced a decided talent for drawing. She had also a great love for mathematics; her argumentative powers, too, were unusually strong. She was early distinguished for her skill in acting and composition, being especially facile in the improvisation of dialogue in character.

In 1776 her father was appointed professor of divinity in the university of Glasgow, and removed to the house provided for him at the university. But two years later Dr. Baillie died, and his widow and daughters retired to Long Calderwood, in Lanarkshire; Matthew Baillie, the only son, proceeded to Balliol College, Oxford. In 1783 Dr. William Hunter died in London, leaving to Matthew Baillie the use of his house and his fine museum and collections. The following year Mrs. Baillie and her daughters joined Matthew Baillie in London, remaining with him, until he married, in 1791, Miss Denman, sister of lord chief justice Denman.

It was in London that Joanna Baillie's genius first displayed itself. She published anonymously, in 1790, a small volume of miscellaneous poems, entitled `Fugitive Verses,' which received considerable encouragement. But her genius had not yet discovered its true channel. `It was whilst imprisoned by the heat of a summer afternoon, and seated by her mother's side engaged in needle-work, that the thought of essaying dramatic composition burst upon her.' The first play she composed, `Arnold,' does not survive; but in 1798 she issued the first volume of her 'Plays on the Passions,' entitled 'A Series of Plays; in which it is attempted to delineate the stronger passions of the mind, each passion being the subject of a tragedy and a comedy.' The volume contained `Basil,' a tragedy on love; the 'Trial,' a comedy on the same subject; and 'De Monfort,' a tragedy