JOANNA

See also:

• JOANNA BAILLIE (1762-1851)
• BAILLIE, LADY GRIZEL (1665-1746)
• BAILLIE, ROBERT (1602-1662)
• BAILLIE, ROBERT (d. 1684)

BAILLIE (1762-1851)  , British poet and dramatist, was born at the manse of Bothwell, on the banks of the Clyde, on the 11th of September 1762 . She belonged to an old Scottish family, which claimed among its ancestors Sir William Wallace . At an early period she moved with her sister Agnes to London, where their brother, Dr Matthew Baillie, was settled . The two sisters inherited a small competence from their uncle, Dr William Hunter, and took up their residence at Hampstead, then on the outskirts of London, where they passed the remainder of their lives . Joanna Baillie had received an excellent education, and began very early to write poetry . She published anonymously in 170o a volume called Fugitive Verses; but it was not till 1798 that she produced the first volume of her " plays on the passions" under the title of A Series of Plays . Her design was to illustrate each of the deepest and strongest passions of the human mind, such as hate, jealousy, fear, love, by a tragedy and a comedy, in each of which should be exhibited the actions of an individual under the influence of these passions . The first volume was published anonymously, but the authorship, though at first attributed to Sir Walter Scott, was soon discovered . The book had considerable success and was followed by a second volume in 1802, a third in 1812 and three volumes of Dramas in 1836 . Miscellaneous Plays appeared in 1804, and the Family Legend in 181o . Miss Baillie herself intended her plays not for the closet but for the stage . The Family Legend, brought out in 1810 at Edinburgh, under the enthusiastic patronage of Sir Walter Scott, had a brief though brilliant success; De Monfort had a short run in London, mainly through the acting of John Kemble and Mrs Siddons; Henriquez and The Separation were coldly received .

With very few exceptions, Joanna Baillie's plays are unsuited for stage

exhibition . Not only is there a flaw in the fundamental idea, viz. that of an individual who is the embodiment of a single passion, but the want of incident and the direction of the attention to a single point, present insuperable obstacles to their success as acting pieces . At the same time they show remarkable powers of analysis and acute observation and are written in a pure and vigorous style . Joanna Baillie's reputation does not rest entirely on her dramas; she was the author of some poems and songs of great beauty . The best of them are the Lines to Agnes Baillie on her Birthday, The Kitten, To a Child and some of her adaptations of Scottish songs, such as Woo'd and Married an'a' . Scattered throughout the dramas are also some lively and beautiful songs, The Chough and the Crow in Orra, and the lover's song in the Phantom . Miss Baillie died on the 23rd of February 1851, at the advanced age of 89, her faculties remaining unimpaired to the last . Her gentleness and sweetness of-disposition made her a universal favourite, and her little cottage at Hampstead was the centre of a brilliant Iiterary society . See Joanna Baillie's Dramatic and Poetical Works (London, 1851) .