3-011-455 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

"The Waefu' Heart", by T. Duncan, A.R.A., in the gallery of the South Kensington Museum, 1864. Engraving of a painting '...from the Sheepshanks' Collection of the South Kensington Museum [depicting] the Waefu' Wife sitting in the "ingle nook" before the fire in deep despondency, with a shepherd's collie dog as the only companion of her brooding solitude...In the opinion of Sir Walter Scott and many other competent judges, there is not in the language a more perfect, tender, and pathetic ballad or tale of humble life than that of "Auld Robin Gray," which has supplied the subject of the picture..."Auld Robin Gray" was composed, about 1771, by Lady Anne Barnard...[who] was the daughter of James Lindsay, the fifth Earl of Balcarres. It was composed to an ancient air, and instantly on its publication became popular. The lady kept, however, the secret of its authorship for more than fifty years. After the lapse of this long period she acknowledged it (in 1823) in a letter to Sir Walter Scott, accompanying the disclosure with a full account of the circumstances under which it was written. With this acknowledgment Lady Anne sent two continuations to the ballad; but these, like nearly all attempts of the kind, are greatly inferior to their prototype'. From "Illustrated London News", 1864.