kept in
profound secrecy. The condition was carefully observed; so that,
although the publication of "The Scottish Minstrel" extended over three
years, and she had several personal interviews and much correspondence
with the publisher and his editor, Mr R. A. Smith, both these
individuals remained ignorant of her real name. She had assumed the
signature, "B. B.," in her correspondence with Mr Purdie, who appears to
have been entertained by _the discovery_, communicated in confidence,
that the name of his contributor was "Mrs Bogan of Bogan;" and by this
designation he subsequently addressed her. The _nom de guerre_ of the
two B.'s[46] is attached to the greater number of Lady Nairn's
contributions in "The Scottish Minstrel."

The new collection of minstrelsy, unexceptionable as it was in the words
attached to all the airs, commanded a wide circulation, and excited
general attention. The original contributions were especially commended,
and some of them were forthwith sung by professed vocalists in the
principal towns. Much speculation arose respecting the authorship, and
various conjectures were supported, each with plausible arguments, by
the public journalists. In these circumstances, Lady Nairn experienced
painful alarm, lest, by any inadvertence on the part of her friends, the
origin of her songs should be traced. While the publication of the
"Minstrel" was proceeding, her correspondents received repeated
injunctions to adopt every caution in preserving her _incognita_; she
was even desirous that her sex might not be made known. "I beg the
publisher will make no mention of a _lady_," she wrote to one of her
correspondents, "as you observe, the more mystery the better, and
_still_ the balance is in favour of the lords of creation. I cannot
help, in some degree, undervaluing beforehand what is said to be a
feminine production." "The Scottish Minstrel" was completed in 1824, in
six royal octavo volumes, forming one of the best collections of the
Scottish melodies. It was in the full belief that "Mrs Bogan" was her
real name, that the following compliment was paid to Lady Nairn by
Messrs Purdie and R. A. Smith, in the advertisement to the last volume
of the work:--"In particular, the editors would have felt happy in being
permitted to enumerate the many original and beautiful verses that adorn
their pages, for which they are indebted to the author of the
much-admired song, 'The Land o' the Leal;' but they fear to wound