He married his first wife, Elisabeth Adam, at Dunnichen in 1835. She reportedly died soon after they were married - possibly the same year. I am not sure of the cause of death as she died prior to civil registration.
There is a poem in "The Mountain Muse" which I think he wrote about her because of the line "I ne'er can be your wife".
LOVE IN DEATH
A Ballad
Oh, dinna look sae sad, Willie;
The truth I noo maun speak;
See summer roses bloom again,
But none upon my cheek.
I thocht when winter's cauld was gane,
And frost and snaw a' past,
That I wad gather strength again,
But find it ebbin' fast.
Lang you have had my heart, Willie,
Yours has been leal and true;
But, oh, I find mine sinkin' sair -
The grave maun keep it noo.
To me 'tis sad and ill to thole
To ken we sune maun part;
There's flowers and music in the dell,
But nane in my lane heart.
The rosy beams o'morn, Willie,
Bring nae sunshine to me;
The shades o' death are thickening fast
Before my weary e'e.
Tho' sune, sune I maun bid adieu
To a' beneath the sky,
I ken I'll live in ae fond heart
When 'neath the sod I lie.
The thocht o' happy days to come
Made mine a cheery life;
Alas! these days I'll never see -
ne'er can be your wife.
Noo grip my hand ance mair, Willie,
And kiss my burnin' broo;
And the last breath that leaves my lips
Will be a prayer for you.
If that poem was not about Elisabeth it would have been about his second wife Jean Thomson, who died from phthisis (tuberculosis) in 1865. The fact that the wife in the poem is clearly dying a slow death would be make it a little more likely to be about Jean.
Despite the age difference of about fourteen years, it seemed to have been a "love match". There is a rather passionate poem about Jean called "Twa Pawky Een". Twa is Two and Een is eyes (I am guessing). On a tape of Aunty Nell she struggles to translate "Pawky" - it seems to mean sly, double-meaning, teasing, cheeky, shrewd, cunning - in a humorous way - not a word with a direct translation.
TWA PAWKY EEN
A SANG.
It was on Airlie's bonnie braes
Whaur first I met my Jean;
That moment I became the thrall
O' her twa pawky een.
Their glamour made me rin maist wud,
And lanely paths I took;
For aye I thocht to licht on her,
In some sweet fairy nook.
A warmer pulse beat in my heart;
Love a' my views did flush;
Twa roguish een still haunted me,
And glanced from every bush.
I crazy grew, and cudna rest
Frae morn to dewy e'en;
A presence still my fancy thrilled -
The image o' my Jean.
A kingdom for a hinny kiss
Beneath the milk-white thorn,
When moon an' stars are lookin' doun
On fields of yellow corn.
Gang whaur I like, her glances aye
My wand'ring staps pursue;
As if an angel peered at me
Through blobs o' mountain dew.
From Mem'ry Airlie's braes and Den
And Isla's faemy streams
Can never fade; sae fondly yet
I visit them in dreams.
Tho' mony, mony years hae passed
Since first I met my Jean;
I never will nor can forget
Her twa sweet pawky een.
Image of Isla River in Airle - reused under the Creative Common Licence (c) Sylvia Barrow
The reference to Airlie is also picked up in a rather sadder poem which is clearly about Jean.
IN MEMORIAM
Though thou art low in lonesome grave -
That last and gloomy lair -
Thy love-lit eye for ever closed,
And soiled thy golden hair;
Still I can see within the pall
That o'er my soul is flung
The image of thy peerless form -
My beautiful and young.
Pure thou didst seem as liquid gem
That sparkles on the rose,
Or opening flower when vernal dawn
With pearly radiance glows.
Thy voice was like the dulcet tones
That rise on evening air,
Where tiny wavelets wanton round
The water-lilies fair.
I miss thee by the crystal spring
That bubbled up so clear;
The tripping of thy fairy feet,
Alas? no more I'll hear.
No more we'll meet in Airlie Den,
And list the rushing streams
Of Isla's waters flashing past,
Beneath the pale moonbeams.
Gem of my youth! life's morning star!
Thy beauty was it so
That Heaven claimed it as too fair
For mortal gaze below!
A year after Jean died, William married again to Betsy McKenzie. It would seem though that it was more of a marriage of convenience than love as William had small children to be cared for and, for a man of letters, it must have been hard to be married to someone who was illiterate (Betsy signed her mark on her wedding certificate).
According to Aunty Nell she was a "right step-mother" and her (Nell's) father (Thomas - the youngest) didn't like Betsy very much. William outlived Betsy too - she died sometime between 1871 and 1881 (she is in the 71 census but not in the 81 census) - but I have been unable to find her death registration.I don't think William wrote any poems about poor Betsy but I have a feeling he took up his writing after she died - probably free in the evenings to write and compose his stories and songs.
In honour of all three wives here is another poem written by William:
AS THINGS SHOULD BE
OH! thou art health and wealth to me,
My everything in life,
And I am blessed indeed with thee,
My kind and loving wife.
Thy winsome smile and witchin' e'e,
And gentle words and kind;
In every way thou art to me
A helpmate to my mind.
Since thou wert mine, my pretty dear,
My pleasures hae been rife;
I think I'm younger ilka year
Wi' you, my lovin' wife.
The manly, brave, and kindly heart -
Pity is sae rare;
And mony play a silly part
Though they hae routh o' gear.
Weel may I bless my happy lot,
Frae sorrow free and strife;
Life's cares and troubles are forgot
To feel thou art my wife.
The prudent thocht and modest grace
That sit upon the brow
Did weel become the lassie's face,
The happy mither's now.
Tho' I had wealth and ca'd a lord,
The Kingdom, too, o' Fife,
There's something wad be mair adored -
My ain, my peerless wife.
To keep aglow love's sacred flame,
Still be our aim to fan;
Our pleasures ever be the same
As when they first began.
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