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Murray of Lintrose, Euphemia (b. 1769)
A cousin of Sir William of Ochtertyre, Euphemia Murray was known as 'The Flower of Strathmore'. She was eighteen when Burns stayed with Sir William in 1787, and wrote the song 'Blythe, blythe and merry was she'. Of the song, he recalled: 'I composed these verses while I stayed at Ochtertyre with Sir William Murray. The lady, who was also at Ochtertyre at the same time, was a well-known toast, Miss Euphemia Murray of Lintrose...' The lady. according to tradition, did not appreciate the honour done her by Burns, though one who knew her said that the concluding verse was 'very expressive of her appearance and style of beauty': "Her bonnie face it was as meek,
As ony lamb upon a Ice; [lea
The evening sun was ne'er sae sweet,
As was the blink o' Phemie's ee."
In 1794, she married David Smythe of Methven Castle, later a judge of the Court of Session, by whom she had several children. The tune, 'Andro and his cutty gun' to which the words are set, goes back to the Caledonian Pocket Companion, 1754. Burns's song appeared both in the Scots Musical Museum and in Thomson's Scottish Airs,1799.
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