Jessie Lewars

Jessie Lewars, also known as Mrs. James Thomson, was the youngest daughter of John Lewars, a supervisor of excise. Following the death of her 69-year-old father in 1789, Jessie was only 11 years old, when she and her brother John moved to a house in Millhole Brae (now Burns Street) that lay opposite that of Robert Burns in Dumfries. Jessie was a close Burns family friend and when nearly at the age of eighteen helped the family by nursing Robert in the days leading up to his death and doing the domestic chores.

Life and character

Jessie had a brother and also an older sister, Mary, who married William Hyslop, a Dumfries builder. in Dumfries on 3 June 1799. The couple had five sons and two daughters. The sons were James (1800–1820); John (1802–1834), who worked with his father; William (1805–1858), who was a captain in the merchant service, and died at the Cape of Good Hope; Thomas (1810–1859); and Alexander (1814–1859.

The elder daughter, Mary (1807–1843), married George Montgomery in 1840, a Dumfries merchant. They had a son, George, and a daughter, Jessie Lewars Montgomery. Jessie, younger daughter of James Thomson and Jessie Lewars, was born on 16 June 1816 and died unmarried in September 1877. her husband, James Thomson, having died on 5 May 1849, aged 75.

Association with Robert Burns and his family

John Lewars, Jessie's brother, was a colleague of Robert Burns in Dunfriesshire until his death in 1796 and gave official instruction to the Poet on his joining the service. Jessie played and sang to Robert whilst he lay in his sickbed, for Burns was rarely able to leave his room from April 1796, until his death in July of that year. She is said to have had a fine singing voice that Burns compared to a Linnet (Carduelis cannabina). He became very fond of Jessie and composed his very last song for her, namely "O wert thou in the cauld blast." He also addressed to Jessie the song "Altho' thou maun never be mine."

When she was briefly ill or indisposed Robert offered to write an epitaph to her on a crystal goblet, saying in jest "In case of the worst, Jessy, let me provide you with an epithaph": -

He also wrote a rhymed toast to her on another crystal goblet containing wine and water using a diamond pen and requested that she regard it as a keepsake for life:

Robert wrote the following tribute to Jessie on the back of a menagerie handbill that she kept for the rest of her life:

Burns also wrote to James Johnson in Edinburgh and requested a copy of The Scots Musical Museum for Jessie, saying "My wife has a very particular friend, a young lady who sings well, to whom she wishes to present the Scots Musical Museum, If you have a spare copy, will you be so obliging as to send it by the very first fly, as I am anxious to have it soon."

A thin quarto volume by Dr. Wolcott was given by Burns to Jessie, entitled Pindarinia, by Peter Pindar, 1794, inscribed "Un petit gage de Vamitie. R. Burns." ('a small token from a friend') Jessie's friendship with Jean Armour Burns continued and she remained a support to the family, caring for the four small brothers.

Years after his death she related to Robert Chambers regarding Burns that "When he chanced to come home and find no dinner ready, he was never in the least irritated, but would address himself with the greatest cheerfulness to any makeshift set before him. They generally had abundance of good Dunlop cheese, sent them by their Ayrshire friends. The poet would sit down to bread and cheese, with his book by his side and seem to the casual visitor as happy as a courtier at the feast of Kings."

Micro-history Jessie had her portrait painted by John Irvine. At a festival held in honour of the poet's sons in 1844, Jessie was given pride of place next to Robert Burns's relatives.