In 1734 she published a volume of her poetry entitled Miscellany poems, but the cost of shipping a substantial number to the British colony of Boston in North America, where they did not sell well, forced her to turn first to teaching and then to domestic labour.
[2] Her most famous work (though the authorship was for some time in dispute) is "There's Nae Luck Aboot The Hoose", a tale of a sailor's wife and the safe return of her husband from the sea.
She first encountered poetry when she read extracts from Sir Philip Sidney's romance The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia (1590) while working in domestic service with the minister of West Kirk, Greenock.
Inspired by her reading, she started writing poetry herself and was aided by one Mr Drummond, a collector of customs and excise, in raising subscriptions for the publication of her volume of Miscellany poems, which was printed by James Duncan in 1734.
But sales were disappointing, and Adam's financial situation worsened after she used her savings to ship a substantial number of copies to British colonial Boston in North America, where they also did not sell well.