“I have always felt a deep interest in music, as a divine art, too often made a vehicle of evil, but which, when properly learned, might produce most important results.”

Expressing her conviction that music carries significant moral and spiritual power · Letter to her Edinburgh correspondent, 26 January 1844

• Art
• Morality
• Music

“As you observed, the more mystery the better: and still the balance is in favour of the 'Lords of the Creation.”

Reflecting on anonymity and the assumptions surrounding female authorship · Letter to a Ravelstone acquaintance, during the Scottish Minstrel period

• Convention
• Society
• Writing

“I was present when it was asserted that Burns composed the 'Land o' the Leal' on his death-bed, but the parties could not decide why it never appeared in his works. I never answered.”

Showing the extraordinary restraint with which she guarded her literary identity · Letter to a friend on the authorship of The Land o' the Leal

• Humour
• Identity
• Writing