Author: Pagan, Isabel (1742-1821)
Title: A Collection of Songs and Poems on Several Occasions
Date: 1803
Biographical Information
Isabel Pagan, known as Tibbie to her friends, was born in 1741, about 4 miles from Nithhead in the Parish of New Cumnock, where she lived until 14 years of age. She was a Scottish poet of the Romantic era who was born to two very poor parents, who did not support her and her desire to be a poet. Pagan was teased from birth because she had a deformed foot, a squint and a large tumor on her side. In her early years she needed crutches to get around, and her limited mobility made her unsuited for hard labor and meant that she had to make her living by sewing or doing nursing work. At 14 she was gifted a “disused tar works building” a short distance from Muirkirk, and there she lived and spent her days writing verses, singing and opening her cottage as a “howff” (an eighteenth-century expression for a meeting place where whiskey and strong drinks were served in a friendly atmosphere). This alehouse provided her with an income that attracted local people and sporting men in the shooting season.
When Pagan began composing poetry, her lack of education meant that she was unable to write, so a local tailor wrote out her verses for her. She became well known as an exceptional singer in her town and she often sang her own compositions to the delight of her audience. When Pagan was sixty years old she published her collection, “A Collection of Poems and Songs on Several Occasions, from which collection she gained the title of “working class poet.” Within her collection, Pagan is sometimes considered to have composed the opening stanzas of “Ca’ the Yowes,” a poem later made popular by Robert Burns, although her contribution to this work is now under question. Nevertheless, no matter the author or authoress, the chorus still remains a Scottish classic.
Although Pagan never married, she had a child by a man called Campbell who deserted her on the eve of their marriage. Isabel Pagan passed away in 1821, at eighty years old; she was buried in the cemetery at Muirkirk and a small monument was erected in 1931 that marks where she once lived, a site that is still visited by people today.
Sources:
“Isabel Pagan – Peasant Poet.” Scottish History, History Scotland, 22 Feb. 2012, www.historyscotland.com/articles/scottish-history/isabel-pagan-peasant-poet
“Polquhirter and Tibbie Pagan.” NEW CUMMOCK HISTORY, 15 Dec. 2015, newcumnockhistory.com/robert-burns/robert-burns-trail/polquhirter-and-tibbie-pagan/.
Prepared by Marisa Viramontes, University of Nebraska, Spring 2018
© Marisa Viramontes, 2018