Elizabeth Scot(t) (17 July 1729 – 1789), born Elizabeth Rutherford, was an eighteenth-century Scottish poet who composed stanzas from a young age.[1]
Elizabeth was born 17 July 1729 in Edinburgh, Scotland, the daughter of Alice Watson and advocate David Rutherford. Her aunt Alison Cockburn was also a poet[1] and she was encouraged to write by the Scottish poet Allan Ramsay.[2] Elizabeth married Walter Scot in 1768. Together they lived at Wauchope House near Jedburgh, Scotland.[1]
Scot is most known for the poetic epistle titled ‘The Guidwife of Wauchope-house to Robert Burns', which she wrote for Scottish poet Robert Burns in 1787. Burns visited her on his Scottish tour.[3] Other correspondents who supported her work include Enlightenment author Allan Ramsey and author Thomas Blacklock.[1]