Helen Hyslop, also Nelly or Ellen Hyslop was a 'noted local beauty' in

Moffat Moffat ( gd, Mofad) is a burgh and parish in Dumfriesshire, now part of the Dumfries and Galloway local authority area in Scotland. It lies on the River Annan, with a population of around 2,500. It was a centre of the wool trade and a spa town. ...

and a strong local tradition maintains that

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

was for some time a great admirer of her and that she had an affair with him. A daughter, also Helen, is said to have been born as a result of this liaison.Westwood, Page 138 Parish records show that a Helen Hyslop, the mother of Burns's possible daughter, was born in the area in 1766, her parents being John Hyslop and Janet Howatson of

Langholm Langholm , also known colloquially as the "Muckle Toon", is a burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, southern Scotland. Langholm lies between four hills in the valley of the River Esk in the Southern Uplands. Location and geography Langholm sits nort ...

.Mackay, Page 687

Associates

An article was published in a Moffat newspaper in circa 1885 recalling that a Mrs Richardson of Moffat, born in 1864, recalled running messages as a child for Helen Armstrong, the daughter's married name, and knew her as a daughter of Robert Burns.Robert Burns Chronicle, Page 51

Life and character

Little detail is extant regarding Ellen/Helen or Nelly, other than her good looks. The daughter, also Ellen/Helen, after retiring, lived until the age of ninety-eight in the same little back street in Moffat where she had been born. The daughter is said in an 1887 report in the

Pall Mall Gazette ''The Pall Mall Gazette'' was an evening newspaper founded in London on 7 February 1865 by George Murray Smith; its first editor was Frederick Greenwood. In 1921, '' The Globe'' merged into ''The Pall Mall Gazette'', which itself was absorbed in ...

to have born a strong physical likeness to Robert Burns's portraits when she was young and even retained a strong resemblance to her death, having similar contours of her face and the poet's dark, bright eyes. This daughter entered service at around the age of sevenRobert Burns Chronicle, Page 52 and eventually married a Mr Armstrong who died many years before her. Helen Armstrong worked for 30 years at the Buccleuch Arms in Thornhill as a cook. The hotel was then run by the Glendinning family and she only left when the last of that family died. Buccleuch Hotel - geograph

Helen Armstrong's mental faculties are also said to have additionally indicated her parentage, for ''"her conversational powers and her quickness of repartee were most amusing anmd attractive"''. She was popular and in her old age was well cared for by friends, her husband having died many years before and she had no family of her own.

The gravestone

The gravestone in Moffat old kirk cemetery records ''"In Memory of Ellen Hyslop who died at Moffat 8th March 1852 aged 87 years."'' The later inscription for her daughter, carved by a different mason, reads ''"Also Ellen Armstrong her daughter, who died 13th April 1886, aged 98 years.'' The stone makes no reference to a father or to the daughter's husband other than his surname and the surname used for the mother is therefore that of her parents. In deeply religious times the placing in such a prominent position of the details of an unmarried mother and her daughter is highly unusual as is the provision of a lair and stone in such cases. The mother could have been born in 1766 as previously stated. Her daughter would have been born circa 1788/9 and is confirmed to have died in Moffat, having returned here from Thornhill. Robert Burns is known to have visited the area to meet Allan Masterton and William Nicol and wrote ''Willie Brew'd A Peck O' Maut'' in 1789 as a memorial to the meeting.

Micro-history

Helen once saw

Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy' ...

when he came into the kitchen at the Buccleuch Arms and spoke to the head cook. Sir Walter was on a journey to visit the Duke of Buccleuch at nearby Drumlanrig Castle. Westwood has it that ''numerous press reports'' reported her death at the age of 97/98.

Association with Robert Burns

The Helen Hyslop from Langholm is not recorded in the parish register as having had a child. It is clear however from her gravestone's inscription that a daughter, also Ellen or Helen, did exist and given that many illegitimate children were not recorded in parish registers at this time the connection with Burns remains possible but 'not proven'. Burns is known to have frequented the town to take the waters of the Moffat Well and the Hartfell Spa. The fact of his relationship with Robert Burns was well known in the town and the neighbourhood. Robert Burns Inscription - Black Bull Inn

Robert Burns Inscription - Black Bull Inn

He was well known in the local inns, such as the Black Bull in Moffat town centre, where he left his mark in the original inn by making an inscription on one of the windows using his diamond pen. A replica of the window is on display, along with many other Burns memorablia, in what is now called the 'Burns Room' in honour of the poet. Some confusion exists between

Ann Park Helen Anne Park,Burns Encyclopedia
Retrieved : 27 February 2012 known as An ...

and the Helen Hyslop story, for Ann's name is recorded with variations such as Ann Hyslop, Helen Anne Hislop, Helen Hyslop, Etc. Ann Park was possibly a second-cousin of William 'Jock' Hyslop,Mackay, Page 456

References

;Notes

Sources

# Mackay, James A. (1988). ''Burns-Lore of Dumfries and Galloway.'' Ayr : Alloway Publishing. . # Mackay, James (2004). ''A Biography of Robert Burns. Edinburgh : Mainstream Publishing''. . # Pall Mall Gazette, 1887. # Robert Burns Chronicle (1968). Mrs Helen Armstrong. Was she a Daughter of Burns? Kilmarnock : Burns Federation. # Westwood, Peter J. (2008). ''Who's Who in the World of Robert Burns''. Robert Burns World Federation. .

External links

Commentary and video on Helen Hyslop
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hyslop, Helen Robert Burns 18th-century Scottish women 1766 births 1852 deaths