Poetry Codex

Romantic

Janet Little

1759–1813

Janet Little (1759–1813), known as 'the Scotch Milkmaid', was a Scottish poet who worked as a dairymaid and servant in the household of Flora, Countess of Loudoun, at Loudoun Castle in Ayrshire. Her Poetical Works were published by subscription at Ayr in 1792.

The volume mixes English and Scots verse: epistles, elegies, songs and tales, several addressed to friends in the Loudoun household, with an epistle to Robert Burns and a poem on her visit to him. The dedication and list of subscribers are omitted here.

Poems (54)

  1. To Hope
  2. On Happiness
  3. Upon a Young Lady's Leaving Loudoun Castle
  4. The Fickle Pair
  5. To a Lady, a Patroness of the Muses, on Her Recovery from Sickness
  6. The Lottery Ticket
  7. The Month's Love
  8. Damon and Philander
  9. Colin and Alexis
  10. Almeda and Flavia
  11. On the Spring
  12. William and Mary
  13. Lothario
  14. Amanda, an Elegy on the Death of Mrs. ----, Personating Her Husband
  15. Celia and Her Looking Glass
  16. The Unfortunate Rambler
  17. Lucina, an Elegy
  18. The Envied Kiss
  19. The Young Man's Resolution
  20. To a Young Man Under Sentence of Death for Forgery, from His Mistress
  21. On an Unlooked for Separation from a Friend
  22. Written January First, 1792
  23. On a Visit to Mr. Burns
  24. Given to a Lady Who Asked Me to Write a Poem
  25. Epistle to Nell, Wrote from Loudoun Castle
  26. Nell's Answer
  27. Another Epistle to Nell
  28. An Epistle to a Lady
  29. From Snipe, a Favourite Dog, to His Master
  30. On the Death of J---- H----, Esq
  31. On the Birth of J---- H----, Esq.'s Son
  32. On a Gentleman's Proposing to Travel 300 Miles to See J---- H----, Esq.'s Child
  33. Verses Written on a Foreigner's Visiting the Grave of a Swiss Gentleman, Buried Among the Descendents of Sir William Wallace, Guardian of Scotland in the Thirteenth Century
  34. From Philander to Eumenes
  35. Sylvia and Armeda
  36. The Captivated Soldier
  37. On Reading Lady Mary Montague and Mrs. Rowe's Letters
  38. Upon a Young Lady's Breaking a Looking Glass
  39. An Acrostic upon a Young Woman, Written by Her Lover
  40. An Extemporary Acrostic
  41. An Epistle to Mr. Robert Burns
  42. To My Aunty
  43. On Halloween
  44. On Seeing Mr. ---- Baking Cakes
  45. A Poem on Contentment
  46. Alcanzar
  47. Alonzo to Delia
  48. Delia to Alonzo
  49. From Delia to Alonzo, Who Had Sent Her a Slighting Epistle
  50. From Flavia to Carlos
  51. To Nell When at Moffat Well
  52. A Young Lady's Lamentation for the Loss of Her Sister by Marriage
  53. The Rival Swains
  54. To a Lady Who Sent the Author Some Paper, with a Reading of Sillar's Poems

See Janet Little in the full archive →