Skip to content
Irvine Scotland
Toggle menu
  • Home
  • The People of Irvine
  • The Irvine that was!
  • The Irvine that is!
  • The Irvine that could have been!
  • Irvine is open for business!
  • Old Parish Churchyard Project

Jean Gardner

By adminAugust 19, 2016November 30, 2018The Irvinites
Main menu
Navigation
  • Main page
  • Contents
  • Current events
  • Random article
  • About Wikipedia
  • Contact us
  • Donate
Contribute
  • Help
  • Learn to edit
  • Community portal
  • Recent changes
  • Upload file
Languages
Language links are at the top of the page across from the title.
Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia
Search
  • Create account
  • Log in
  • Create account
  • Log in
Pages for logged out editors learn more
  • Contributions
  • Talk

Contents

  • (Top)
  • 1Life and character
    • 1.1George Hill
  • 2Association with Robert Burns
  • 3See also
  • 4References
    Add links
    • Article
    • Talk
      • Read
      • View history
      Tools
      Actions
      • Read
      • View history
      General
      • What links here
      • Related changes
      • Upload file
      • Special pages
      • Permanent link
      • Page information
      • Cite this page
      • Wikidata item
      Print/export
      • Download as PDF
      • Printable version
      In other projects
      • Wikimedia Commons

      Jean Gardner
      BornSeptember 1746
      Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland
      DiedCirca 1793
      Philadelphia, USA
      OccupationHousewife

      Jean Gardner or later Jean Hill, was "a young woman of very surpassing beauty,"[1] with a "light foot and an ensnaring eye,"[2] but she may have been thirteen years older[3] than Robert Burns with whom she was on friendly or 'intimate' terms. A strong local tradition in Irvine[3] links her with Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), however no contemporary written evidence records this relationship[3] and Burns himself is not thought to have written about her, other than a disputed use of her given name as the 'darling Jean' of Burns's 'Epistle to Davie', and most recent writers have considered the reference to be to Jean Armour.[1]

      Life and character

      Old Irvine.
      Seagate Street and castle in Irvine.

      Gardner may have been the daughter of James Gardiner (d.1768), a butcher living at the Seagate[4] in Irvine, and Janet Caldwell. James owned three houses in the Seagate and a park called Spenshill. Gardner was baptised on 14 September 1746.[5] When James Gardiner died in 1768 his eldest daughter inherited half of his property; already a widow according to Strawhorn, her dead husband, a shipmaster, being one Alexander Armour. This would confusingly make her married name 'Jean Armour.'[6]

      It was in Gardner’s family house in Seagate (probably in the second house on the right from Highstreet)[7] that the preacher Hugh White was supposed to have lodged.[8] Revd. Hugh White or Whyte was the minister of the Relief Congregation which had seceded from the established church and it was after he preached a sermon at Glasgow that one Elspeth Buchan or Elspat Buchan (1738–1791) followed him back to Irvine where she went on to form the fanatical Buchanites. The Revd White and his wife supported her and he was suspended from his church as a result.[8]

      Gardner joined the Buchanites, who numbering only around forty-six at this time, were expelled from Irvine in May 1784 after the sect had seceded from the Relief Church. She eventually joined them in the barn at New Cample in Dumfrieshire where the Buchanites had temporarily settled after 'Mother Buchan' sent Andrew Inness back to collect her. It has been speculated that she was unwilling to leave because of her attachment to Burns.[9]

      At New Cample, she met and later married George Hill, another member of the group, after the sect broke up. The couple emigrated with to America where she is said to have died from a fever at Philadelphia in around 1793.[1] It is also recorded that her sister Kate and the rest of her family joined the Buchanites and that Kate or Katie had a child by Andrew Inness whom she was not allowed to marry as this was against the laws of the sect.[10] Kate remained with Andrew in a belated celibate friendship until she died and he became the last member of the sect.[9]

      George Hill

      George Hill was the first person who joined the Buchanites at New Cample. He was a well-educated and had been for some time clerk to the Closeburn Lime Works. He lived at Closeburn Castle, with Mr Stewart, on the estate of Mr Monteith, and often visited the sect. A native of Edinburgh, his relations there became aware of his being about to give up his job for the purpose of becoming a Buchanite, two of his brothers travelled to Closeburn to persuade him against taking such a move that would ruin him and bring disgrace on the family.[10]

      Association with Robert Burns

      Full view of the Naysmith portrait of 1787, Scottish National Portrait Gallery
      The Relief church where Hugh White was once the minister

      A fanatical member of the Buchanites sect, Andrew Innes is recorded to have said that "When I was sent back from Thornhill for Mr Hunter, Jean Gardner came with me from Irvine to Closeburn, and when we were in the neighbourhood of Tarbolton, she seemed to be in fear, and in a rather discomposed condition; when in enquired the cause, she said it was lest Burns the poet, should see her, for if he did, he would be sure to interrupt her, for they had been on terms of intimacy, but we proceeded on our journey without meeting any obstruction."[1][8] Burns had actually moved to Mossgiel by this date.

      Although the word 'intimate' was supposedly used this could mean little more than 'good friends' in the 18th century,[8] however Burns' sister, Mrs Begg stated that the poet was for a time fond of Jean Gardner.[10] Joseph Train states that "Burns frequently visited her in the society both at New Cample and Auchen Gibbert."[11] It has been suggested that Jean tried to persuade the poet to join the Buchanites.[12]

      Robert is also said to have ridden after her to New Cample where he tried to persuade to return, spending a whole day and night trying to persuade her to leave the sect.[2] however this may simply be an exaggeration based on Andrew Innes's actual testimony given half a century after the events took place.[8]

      What may be Jean Gardner's house in Seagate.

      Burns is recorded as having held a surprisingly dim view of the Buchanites and wrote:- "[A]bout two years ago, a Mrs Buchan from Glasgow came among them, & began to spread some fanatical notions of religion among them, [...] till in spring last the Populace rose & mobbed the old leader Buchan & put her out of the town; on which all her followers voluntarily quit the place likewise, & with such precipitation, that many of them never shut their doors behind them [...] Their tenets are a strange jumble of enthusiastic jargon; among others, she pretends to give them the Holy Ghost by breathing on them, which she does with postures & practices that are scandalously indecent. They have likewise disposed of all life, carrying on a great farce of pretended devotion in barns, & woods, where they lodge and lye all together, & hold likewise a community of women, as it is another of their tenets that they can commit no moral sin. [...] This My Dear Sir, is one of the many instances of the folly in leaving the guidance of sound reason, & common sense in matters of Religion."[13]

      See also

      • flagScotland portal
      • Jean Armour
      • Lesley Baillie
      • Alison Begbie
      • Nelly Blair
      • May Cameron
      • Mary Campbell (Highland Mary)
      • Jenny Clow
      • Jean Glover
      • Helen Hyslop
      • Kate Kemp
      • Nelly Kilpatrick
      • Jessie Lewars
      • Elizabeth Paton
      • David Sillar
      • Isabella Steven
      • Peggy Thompson

      References

      Notes
      1. ^ a b c d Burns Encyclopedia Retrieved : 7 November 2012
      2. ^ a b Elspeth Buchanan Retrieved : 7 November 2012
      3. ^ a b c Mackay, Page 107
      4. ^ Strawhorn, Page 103
      5. ^ Mackay, Page 699
      6. ^ Strawhorn, Page 104
      7. ^ Boyle, Page 60
      8. ^ a b c d e Mackay, Page 108
      9. ^ a b Life of Andrew Inness Archived 19 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved : 7 November 2012
      10. ^ a b c World Burns Federation Retrieved : 7 November 2012
      11. ^ Crocketford History Archived 14 April 2013 at archive.today Retrieved : 7 November 2012
      12. ^ The Life of Robert Burns Retrieved : 7 November 2012
      13. ^ Letter to James Burness, August 3 1784 Retrieved : 7 November 2012
      Sources
      1. Boyle, A. M. (1996). The Ayrshire Book of Burns-Lore. Darvel : Alloway Publishing. ISBN 0-907526-71-3.
      2. Cameron, John (1904). History of the Buchanite Delusion : 1783-1846. Castle Douglas : R. G. Mann.
      3. Mackay, James (2004). A Biography of Robert Burns. Edinburgh : Mainstream Publishing. ISBN 1-85158-462-5.
      4. Strawhorn, John (1985). The History of Irvine. Royal Burgh and Town. Edinburgh : John Donald. ISBN 0-85976-140-1.
      Robert Burns
      Poems
      • "Comin' Thro' the Rye" (1782)
      • "John Barleycorn" (1782)
      • "Man was made to Mourn" (1784)
      • "Address to the Deil" (1785)
      • "Epitaph for James Smith" (1785)
      • "Halloween" (1785)
      • "Handsome Nell" (1774)
      • "Holy Willie's Prayer" (1785)
      • "To a Mouse" (1785)
      • The Kilmarnock volume (1786)
      • "To a Louse" (1786)
      • "To a Mountain Daisy" (1786)
      • "The Cotter's Saturday Night" (1786)
      • "The Battle of Sherramuir" (1787)
      • "The Birks of Aberfeldy" (1787)
      • "The Holy Tulzie" (1784)
      • "Auld Lang Syne" (1788)
      • "My Heart's in the Highlands" (1789)
      • "Tam o' Shanter" (1790)
      • "Ae Fond Kiss" (1791)
      • "Such a Parcel of Rogues in a Nation" (1791)
      • "Ye Jacobites by Name" (1791)
      • "Sweet Afton" (1791)
      • "The Slave's Lament" (1792)
      • "Oh, whistle and I'll come to you, my lad" (1793)
      • "Scots Wha Hae" (1793)
      • "A Red, Red Rose" (1794)
      • "Ca' the yowes" (revised, 1794)
      • "A Man's A Man for A' That" (1795)
      Robert burns.jpg
      Places
      • Alloway
      • Brownhill Inn
      • Burns Cottage
      • Drukken Steps
      • Ellisland Farm
      • Friars Carse
      • The Hermitage, Friars Carse
      • Irvine
      • Irvine Burns Club
      • Lochlea
      • Millmannoch
      • Mossgiel Farm
      • Robert Burns and the Eglinton Estate
      • Writers' Museum
      Family
      • Jean Armour (wife)
      • John Burns (brother)
      • Adam Armour (brother-in-law)
      • James Armour (Master mason) (father-in-law)
      • Agnes Broun (mother)
      • Elizabeth Riddell Burns (daughter)
      • Robert Burns Junior (son)
      • William Burnes (father)
      • Gilbert Burns (brother)
      • Annabella Burns (sister)
      • Isabella Burns (sister)
      • Agnes Burns (sister)
      • William Burns (brother)
      • William Nicol Burns (son)
      • Robert Burnes (uncle)
      • Elizabeth 'Betty' Burns (natural daughter)
      • Francis Wallace Burns (son)
      • James Glencairn Burns (son)
      People
      • Robert Aiken
      • Robert Ainslie
      • John Anderson
      • John Bacon (landlord)
      • John Ballantine
      • Alison Begbie
      • Thomas Blacklock
      • Nelly Blair
      • Richard Brown
      • May Cameron
      • Mary Campbell
      • Margaret Chalmers
      • Jenny Clow
      • Alison Cockburn
      • Alexander Cunningham (lawyer)
      • Lord Glencairn
      • Frances Dunlop
      • Robert Fergusson
      • Alexander Findlater
      • Jean Gardner
      • Jean Glover
      • Robert Graham of Fintry
      • Gavin Hamilton
      • Helen Hyslop
      • Nelly Kilpatrick
      • John Lewars
      • Janet Little
      • Jean Lorimer (Chloris)
      • James McKie
      • John MacKenzie
      • Agnes Maclehose
      • John McMurdo
      • William Maxwell
      • John Murdoch
      • William Nicol
      • Ann Park
      • Elizabeth Paton
      • John Richmond
      • James Smith
      • David Sillar
      • John Syme
      • Alexander Tait
      • Robert Tannahill
      • Peggy Thompson
      • Edward Whigham
      Related
      • The Geddes Burns
      • Glenriddell Manuscripts
      • Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (Edinburgh Edition)
      • Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (Belfast Edition)
      • Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (Dublin Variant)
      • Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (London Edition)
      • Bachelors' Club, Tarbolton
      • Burns Clubs
      • Robert Burns World Federation
      • Bust of Robert Burns
        • Irvine
        • Atlanta
      • Burns supper
      • Memorials
        • Kilmarnock
        • Robert Burns's Commonplace Book 1783–1785
        • Robert Burns's Interleaved Scots Musical Museum
        • Montreal
        • Barre
        • Albany
      • Robert Burns (Stevenson)
      • Robert Burns (Steell)
      • Robert Burns's diamond point engravings
      • Robert Burns and the Eglinton Estate
      • Robert Burns Humanitarian Award
      • The Loves of Robert Burns (1930 film)
      • The Marriage of Robin Redbreast and the Wren
      • The Merry Muses of Caledonia
      • The Poetical Works of Janet Little, The Scotch Milkmaid
      • A Manual of Religious Belief
      source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Gardner
      Facebook Comments

      Share this:

      • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
      • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

      Related

      Post navigation

      Irvine Burns Club
      John Macmillan Brown

      Search

      Site Updates

      • Old Parish Churchyard Project
      • Irvine Logo
      • New Videos in Articles
      • Edgar Allan Poes links to Irvine
      • Churchyard Indiegogo!

      RSS Irvine Times Headlines

      • Kilwinning boy to hold fundraiser for Beatson cancer charity March 28, 2023
      • NHS Ayrshire and Arran: Complaints upheld against health board March 28, 2023
      • Callum Nicoll takes top role at Fairmont estate near St Andrews March 28, 2023
      • North Ayrshire pupils highlight skills at Ayrshire Music Festival March 28, 2023
      • North Ayrshire groups awarded share of Participatory Budgeting fund March 28, 2023
      • North Ayrshire's senior band wins at Scottish Concert Band Festival March 28, 2023
      • 10 rarest 50p coins in circulation as rare 50p sells for £234 March 28, 2023
      • WhatsApp users issued warning of account takeover scam March 28, 2023
      • NHS Ayrshire and Arran: health board deficit 'will double to £56m' March 28, 2023
      • Ayrshire College calls on Scottish Government to save counsellor jobs March 27, 2023

      Events

      Site built by
      Scruffy Dug Design Solutions
      Scruffy Dug Design Solutions


      In partnership with
      Clyde Imagineering
      Clyde Imagineering
      © 2023 Irvine Scotland. Proudly powered by Sydney