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37 Janet Little.Pdf Janet ~tle (1759-1813) Called "Jennie" by her friends, family, and employers, Janet Little was born in August 1759, the daughter of George Little of Nether Bogside, near Ecclefechan, in Dumfriesshire, Scotland. Her parents were people of mod­ est means, and her formal education was probably minimal. Belying her surname, she grew into an unusually tall, dark-haired woman. One of her contemporaries described her as "no bad representation of some of Sir Walter Scott's gigantic heroines, but without their impudence." 1 She first worked for several years as a servant in the home of a Reverend Johnstone and accom­ panied his children to Glasgow. Later she became a chambermaid for Frances Anna Wallace Dunlop, the patron of Robert Burns, who took an interest in her and her poetry. Little naturally heard much about Burns in the Dunlop household, admired his work, and was inspired by his example. After the suicide of the earl of Loudoun in 1786, Little accompanied Dun­ lop's daughter, Susan Hendrie, to her new home at Loudoun Castle and took charge of the dairy there, earning the nickname "The Scotch Milkmaid." On 12 July 1789, no doubt encouraged by Frances Dunlop, she wrote to Burns: You must know, Sir, I am somewhat in love with the Muses, though I cannot boast of any favours they have deigned to confer upon me as yet; my situation in life has been very much against me as to that .... As I had the pleasure of perusing your poems, I felt a partiality for the author, which I should not have experienced had you been in a more dignified station. I wrote a few verses of address to you, which I did not then think of ever presenting; but as fortune seems to have favoured me in this, by bringing me into a family by whom you are well known and much esteemed, and where perhaps I may have an opportunity of seeing you, I shall, in hopes of your foture friendship, take the liberty to transcribe them. I. Quoted in (James Paterson), The Contemporaries of Burns, and the More Recent Poets of Ayrshire, with Selections from their Writings (Edinburgh and London, 1840), 87-88. Janet Little She enclosed a ten-stanza poem in praise of Burns, written partly in Scots dialect, containing the self-deprecating lines, Sure Milton's eloquence were faint The beauties of your verse to paint: My rude unpolish'd strokes but taint Their brilliancy; She closed the letter, "Sir-I hope you will pardon my boldness in this: my hand trembles while I write to you, conscious of my unworthiness of what I would most earnestly solicit, viz. your favour and friendship; yet, hoping you will show yourself possessed of as much generosity and good nature as will prevent your exposing what may justly be found liable to censure in this measure, I shall take the liberty to subscribe myself, Sir, Your most obedient humble servant, Janet Little." 2 We know that Burns received the letter, for he wrote Frances Dunlop nearly two months later, on 6 September: "I had some time ago an epistle, part poetic, and part prosaic, from your poetess, Mrs. J. L--, a very in­ genious but modest composition. I should have written her, as she requested, but for the hurry of this new business. I have heard of her and her com­ positions in this country; and, I am happy to add, always to the honour of her character. The fact is, I know not well how to write to her: I should sit down to a sheet of paper that I knew not how to stain." 3 Whether Burns ever replied directly to Little is unclear, but later Little made a trip to Dumfries­ shire, principally to see Burns at his farm in Ellisland. Little's "On a Visit to Mr. Burns" describes this meeting, which took place shortly after Burns had broken his arm in a fall from a horse: With beating breast I view'd the bard; All trembling did him greet: With sighs bewail'd his fate so hard, Whose notes were ever sweet. In 1792, with Frances Dunlap's help and encouragement, The Poetical Works ofJanet Little, the Scotch Milkmaid, was published in Ayr by subscription, earn­ ing Little about fifty pounds. A 207-page octavo volume dedicated to Flora, Countess of Loudoun, then twelve years old, it contains fifty-four poems and a list of more than six hundred subscribers, including well-respected and in­ fluential people from throughout the country. In one poem, "To the Public," Little sets forth her goal: 2. Quoted in ibid., 79-8r. 3. The Letters of Robert Burns, ed. G. Ross Roy, 2nd ed. (Oxford, 1985), I :438. Janet Little From the dull confines of a country shade, A rustic damsel issues forth her lays; There she, in secret, sought the Muse's aid, But now, aspiring, hopes to gain the bays. Around this time Little married a laborer, John Richmond, eighteen years her senior and a widower with five children. In December 1792, when Burns visited Dunlop House for four days, Frances Dunlop made a point of calling to his attention Little's recently published volume, which contained several poems idolizing him. He was un­ impressed. Severely disappointed in his response, Dunlop wrote to him ten weeks later: Methinks I hear you ask me with an air that made me feel as I had got a slap in the face, if you must read all the few lines I had pointed out to your notice in poor Jenny's book. How did I upbraid my own conceited folly at that in­ stant that had ever subjected one of mine to so haughty an imperious critic! I never liked so little in my life as at that moment the man whom at all others I delighted to honour.... I then felt for Mrs Richmond (Jenny Little), for you, and for myself, and not one of the sensations were such as I would wish to cherish in remembrance.4 Of Little's subsequent life, not much is recorded. Her neighbors recalled that she was a fond and attentive stepmother, that she was well liked in the community, belonged to a dissenting church in Galston, and was considered one of its more intelligent and devout members. She was said to have such a good memory that, hearing a sermon read from a prepared text for the sec­ ond time, several weeks after having first heard it, she could remember the only sentence the speaker omitted. To a query by the Reverend Mr. Schaw of Ayr asking what she thought of a sermon, Little is said to have replied, "I thocht it rather flowery. Ye ken what I mean, Mr. Schaw-a wi' hue mair soun' than sense!" Taken aback by such an astute, plucky assessment by a mere servant woman, Schaw warned on his departure that "they would have to beware what kind of sermons they preached, since they had such critics as Janet Little." 5 Little continued to supervise the dairy at Loudoun Castle even after the departure of Susan Hendrie. In 1807 John Hamilton was appointed factor to the countess of Loudoun, and it was said that Little "became so intimate in the house of that gentleman as to be almost regarded as one of the domes- 4. Quoted in Maurice Lindsay, The Burns Encyclopedia (New York, 1980), 218. 5. (Paterson], Contemporaries of Burns, 88. Janet Little tics." 6 One of her last poems was written for Mrs. Hamilton on the birth of her twin sons. Little died in Causey Head at Loudoun Castle on r5 March r8r3, after being ill only one day. Her husband survived her by six years. Their remains are marked with a plain stone in the ancestral burying ground of the Loudoun family at Loudoun-Kirk, inscribed with the words: "In memory of John Richmond, who died August IO, r819, aged 78 years; and Janet Little, his spouse, who died March 15, 1813, aged 54 years." She left behind some poems in manuscript, including "Elegy on T. S.," which contains the lines: Can sages say what fascinating charm Binds our attachment to this noxious soil; Where poisonous gales are fraught with rude alarm, And disappointment mocks our anxious toil? 7 MAJOR WORK: The Poetical Works ofJanet Little, the Scotch Milkmaid (Air, 1792). TEXTS USED: All texts from The Poetical Works ofJanet Little, the Scotch Milkmaid. To the Public From the dull confines of a country shade, A rustic damsel issues forth her lays; There she, in secret, sought the Muse's aid, But now, aspiring, hopes to gain the bays. II "Vain are her hopes," the snarling critic cries; "Rude and imperfect is her rural song." But she on public candour firm relies, And humbly begs they'll pardon what is wrong. 6. Ibid. 7. Ibid., 90. 4 bays] The leaves or sprigs of the bay laurel, made into a wreath for a conqueror or poet. Janet Little III And if some lucky thought, while you peruse, Some little beauty strike th' inquiring mind; IO In gratitude she'll thank th' indulgent Muse, Nor count her toil, where you can pleasure find. IV Upon your voice depends her share of fame, With beating breast her lines abroad are sent: Of praise she'll no luxuriant portion claim; Give but a little, and she'll rest content. (1792) Another Epistle to Nell* While Pha:bus did our summer arbours cheer, And joys Autumnal crown' d our circling year; Even then my thoughts to you excursions made, And ardently the bypast scenes survey'd; Where oft we met in Eccles' peaceful bow'rs, While social pleasure mark'd the passing hours.
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