Author: Carmichael, Rebekah
Biography:
by
Ragaz, Sharon (SR)
CARMICHAEL, Rebekah later Hay (1766?-1823: ancestry.co.uk)
On the certificate of her 23 May 1793 marriage at Edinburgh to John Hay, an Edinburgh clerk, her father’s name is given as James Carmichael. This makes it likely that she was born at London to James and Sarah Carmichael and baptised at St. Martin-in-the-Fields on 24 May 1766. Why she moved to Scotland is not known. Her Poems is dedicated to David Steuart-Moncrieffe and the subscription list (with copies to Robert Burns who in 1787 had sent her his copy of Robert Fergusson's [q.v.] poems) suggests that she had extensive Scottish connections and she uses Scots in some of her poems. One subscriber is Dr Carmichael Smyth of London, a physician to George III. She and John Hay had four children. She was severely impoverished by his early death (24 Sept. 1806), and a letter, attached to her poem Extempore, on Seeing Sir William Forbes Funeral (one page) to Archibald Constable begs for a loan and expresses hope that her situation will soon improve. (This copy is in the BL.) Forbes was an eminent banker and one of her sons, David Ramsay Hay (1798-1866), was named after another banker, David Ramsay. The son later became a well-regarded painter and writer; his work was admired by Walter Scott (q.v.) who commissioned him to decorate his home at Abbotsford. Rebekah Hay died on 17 Aug. 1823 as the result of an unspecified accident and was buried at the Canongate, Edinburgh. (ECWP; ancestry.co.uk 31 Aug 2018; ODNB [David Ramsay Hay] 31 Aug 2018; Scotland's People) SR