Cutty-sark (witch) "chemise", or "shirt". The earliest recorded literary usage of the term "cutty sark" (as opposed to older usage of the two separate words) is by Dougal Graham in c. 1779 (the year of his death): "A cutty sark of guide harn sheet, My mitter he pe spin, mattam." In Burns' 1791 poem Tam o' Shanter, the drunken Tam, riding home on his horse, happens upon a witches' dance. Among the dancing figures is a particularly beautiful young witch named Nannie (Scots pet-form of Anna), "ae winsome wench and wawlie" (line 164). She is wearing a "harn" (linen) "sark" (nightshirt) which
Robert Burns and the Eglinton Estate of Coilsfield. She had previously worked for Gavin Hamilton in Mauchline. Mary Campbell inspired some of Burns' finest and most famous poems. Burns wrote the following lines about his separation from Mary Campbell at Coilsfield (Montgomery Castle): – The 12th Earl's sister, Lillias, married John Hamilton of Sundrum, who was appointed 'Oversman', or referee, in Robert Burns' father's dispute with his landlord David McLure. Montgomerie's Peggy, Peggy Thompson, was another of Burns' daliances. Peggy was a 'superior servant', possibly the housekeeper of Coilsfield House and Burns made her acquaintance through passing billets doux (love letters) to her at church. He