The Martyr

Joanna Baillie (1762-1851), was a Scottish poet and playwright. She began very early to write poetry and in 1790 anonymously published a volume called Fugitive Verses. Her poetry ranged from songs and lyrical ballads to dramatic monologues and realistic blank verse poems relating to her youth in the Scottish countryside and her life in London. About Poems, etc. (1790) she wrote "Wherein it is attempted to describe certain views of nature and of rustic manners; and also, to point out, in some instances, the different influence which the same circumstances produce on different characters. " The first volume of her Plays on the Passions, appeared in 1798 under the title A Series of Plays. Though published anonymously, the authorship, at first attributed to Sir Walter Scott, was soon discovered. The book had considerable success and was followed by a second volume in 1802, a third in 1812 and three volumes of Dramatic Poetry in 1836. Miscellaneous Plays appeared in 1804, and the Family Legend in 1810.