| AdminHistory | According to William Beattie's 'Life and Letters of Thomas Campbell', Mrs. Ireland (born Mary Keddie) was a friend from early in Campbell's life, when he lived Edinburgh. Known as a gifted musician in her own right, Campbell would refer to her as his "fair musical friend" and addressed to her some complimentary verses.
Her brother, John Keddie (1774-1816), was one of his close companions, and Campbell often attended the soirées held at their mother's house. Beattie writes, "Mrs. Ireland, who saw much of Campbell at this time [1799] mentions that it was in the musical evenings at her mother's house that he appeared to derive the greatest enjoyment. At these soirees his favorite song was 'Ye Gentlemen of England,' with the music of which he was particularly struck, and determined to write new words for it. Hence this noble and stirring lyric of 'Ye Mariners of England', part of which, if not all, he is said to have composed after one of these family parties."
Born 22nd January 1782 in Edinburgh, the daughter of Alexander Keddie, a candlemaker, and Mary Williamson. She married Thomas Ireland, a linen merchant, in Edinburgh on 9th June 1807 and died in 1861, in the parish of St Giles, Edinburgh. Her son, Alexander Ireland (1810-1894), was a notable journalist and man of letters, who, in turn, was father to the composer, John Ireland (1879-1962), best known for "The Holy Boy" and his settings of poems by John Masefield. |