26 Maria Riddell, the Friend of Burns, 



known, but the fact that the poet was quick to appreciate 

 Maria Riddell's talents is evidenced by the letter which he 

 wrote to his friend, William Smellie, on January 22nd, 

 1792 :— 



" I sit down, my dear Sir, to introduce a young- Lady 

 to you, and a Lady in the first rank of fashion too. — Mrs. 

 Riddell, who will take this letter to town with her, and 

 send it you, is a character that, even in your own way, as 

 a Naturalist and a Philosopher, would be an acquisition 

 to your acquaintance. — The Lady, too, is a Votary of the 

 Muses; and as I think myself somewhat of a judge in my 

 own trade, I assure you that her verses, always correct 

 and often elegant, are much beyond the common run of the 

 Lady-Poetesses of the day. — She is a great admirer of your 

 book ;29 and hearing me say that I was acquainted with 

 you, she beg"ged to be known to you, as she is just g'oing 

 to pay her first visit to our Caledonian Capital. — I told 

 her that her best way was, to desire her near relation and 

 your intimate friend, Craigdarroch,30 to have you at his 

 house while she was there ; and, lest you might think of a 

 lively West Indian girl of eighteen, as girls of eighteen 

 too often deserve to be thought of, I should take care to 

 remove that prejudice. — To be impartial, however, in 

 appreciating the Ladys merits, she has one unlucky failing, 

 a failing which you will easily discover, as she seems rather 

 pleased with indulging in it ; and a failing that you will as 

 easily pardon, as it is a sin which very much besets your- 

 self. Where she dislikes, or despises, she is apt to make 

 no more a secret of It, than where she esteems and 

 respects. "31 



29 The Fhilosopliy of Natural History, voL i., 1790; vol. ii., 

 ■edited after his death by his son, A. Smellie, was published in 1799. 



50 Alexander Fergusson of Craigdarix)ch, Dumfriesshire; 6. 

 September 6th, 1746; d. 1796. His aunt Jean married her cousin 

 Robert Riddell of Glenriddell, grandfather of Walter Riddell, 

 Maria's husband. 



31 Memoirs of the Life, Writings, and Correspondence of 

 William Sm.ellie, vol. ii. (1811), by Robert Kerr, pp. 353-3o4. 



