Author: Pagan, Isabel
Biography:
PAGAN, Isabel (1743?-1821: ancestry.co.uk)
Her birth year is usually given as 1741. However it is likely--if not certain--that she was the Isabel Pagan who was born to unmarried Bessy Pagan in New Cumnock, Ayrshire, and baptised on 11 Dec. 1743. She was born with a deformed foot and she may have been abandoned in childhood. She had very little if any education. Pagan lived rent-free in a derelict cottage in Muirkirk; there she made and sold whisky and became known for her singing voice, sarcastic wit, and convivial gatherings. She was known locally as “Wicked Tibbie.” The two poems for which she is best known are not included in her published book: “Ca' the Yowes to the Knowes” (revised by Robert Burns who added a verse) and “Crook and Plaid.” Because she could not read and write, her poems were transcribed by a friend, William Gemmell. She died on 3 Nov. 1821 and was buried in Muirkirk churchyard where she is commemorated by a stone monument. (ancestry.co.uk 23 Mar. 2025; ODNB 17 June 2020) SR