Robert Burns and Jean Armour

Robert Burns had affairs with many girls. When Robert Burns was in Mauchline he met Jean Armour. Jean was one of his favourite girls and the one who most mattered to him. Her father was James Armour and he was not a kind man. He was a strait-laced builder and did not want Jean to have anything to do with Robert Burns. He did not like the fact that Robert Burns was a worthless man. Robert Burns had little money so he decided to leave Scotland and go to Jamaica to see if he could do better. When he was ready to do so and had saved the necessary money he would arrange for Jean to join him in Jamaica. To keep the record straight he gave Jean ‘marriage lines’ meaning that one day he would marry her.

Jean Armour and Robert Burns

The Armours and Robert Burns quarrelling		When James Armour received the marriage lines he would not let Jean go. Soon Jean was sent off to stay with an Uncle in Paisley because she was pregnant. She had twins, a boy Robert and a girl Jean. Soon after their birth the girl died and young Robert went to live with Robert's mother on the farm at Mossgiel. When Robert Burns found out what had happened he visited the Armours in their home. He said he would not go to Jamaica and he would build a home for Jean. The Armours said they would have none of it and that Robert and Jean would never be husband and wife. Robert Burns left the Armours house defeated, angry and sad.

After a year or so Jean came back to Mauchline to live with her parents. Even though the Armours did not want Robert involved with Jean, the two young lovers sometimes met in private and Jean became pregnant again. She had another set of twins, but this time it was two girls. Sadly they both died. Robert Burns saw these children. He also had to dig their graves. In 1788 Robert Burns’ irregular marriage to Jean Armour was confirmed by the Mauchline Kirk Session.

One year after the twins had died, Jean had another child, Francis Wallace. He was born on the 18th of August 1803. He lived until he was fourteen. Two years later William Nicol was born. As an adult, William Nicol joined the army and became a colonel. He lived abroad for most of his life. In retirement he took part in the Burns festivals from 1844 to 1859 and died in 1859 at the age of eighty one. Next Elizabeth was born. She was born on the 21st of November 1792, but sadly died three years later. James Glencairn was born on the 12th of August 1794 and died in 1864. The last child Jean had was called Maxwell. He was born on the day of Robert Burns' funeral 1796 and died on the 25th of July 1799, therefore living for only three years.

Of the nine children Jean and Robert had, only three survived to be old. It was James Glencairn his fourth son who carried on the Burns family name.