a
delicacy which shrinks from all observation."

Subsequent to the appearance of "The Scottish Minstrel," Lady Nairn did
not publish any lyrics; and she was eminently successful in preserving
her _incognita_. No critic ventured to identify her as the celebrated
"B. B.," and it was only whispered among a few that she had composed
"The Land o' the Leal." The mention of her name publicly as the author
of this beautiful ode, on one occasion, had signally disconcerted her.
While she was resident in Paris, in 1842, she writes to an intimate
friend in Edinburgh on this subject:--"A Scottish lady here, Lady----,
with whom I never met in Scotland, is so good as, among perfect
strangers, to _denounce_ me as the origin of 'The Land o' the Leal!' I
cannot trace it, but very much dislike as ever any kind of publicity."
The extreme diffidence and shrinking modesty of the amiable author
continued to the close of her life; she never divulged, beyond a small
circle of confidential friends, the authorship of a single verse. The
songs published in her youth had been given to others; but, as in the
case of Lady Anne Barnard, these assignments caused her no uneasiness.
She experienced much gratification in finding her simple minstrelsy
supplanting the coarse and demoralising rhymes of a former period; and
this mental satisfaction she preferred to fame.

The philanthropic efforts of Lady Nairn were not limited to the
purification of the national minstrelsy; her benevolence extended
towards the support of every institution likely to promote the temporal
comforts, or advance the spiritual interests of her countrymen. Her
contributions to the public charities were ample, and she

"Did good by stealth, and blush'd to find it fame."

In an address delivered at Edinburgh, on the 29th of December 1845, Dr
Chalmers, referring to the exertions which had been made for the supply
of religious instruction in the district of the West Port of Edinburgh,
made the following remarks regarding Lady Nairn, who was then recently
deceased:--"Let me speak now as to the countenance we have received. I
am now at liberty to mention a very noble benefaction which I received
about a year ago. Inquiry was made at me by a lady, mentioning that she
had a sum at her disposal, and that she wished to apply it to charitable
purposes; and she wanted me to enumerate a list of charitable objects,
in proportion to the estimate I had of their value. Accordingly, I
furnis