Maria Riddell

Maria Banks Riddell (née Woodley; 1772–1808) was a West Indies-born poet, anthologist, naturalist, editor and travel writer, who was resident in Scotland and Wales.

[2] In 1791 she married Walter Riddell of Glenriddell, Dumfriesshire, younger brother of Robert Burns's patron Robert Riddell, and the pair set up house at an estate called Woodley Park (now known as Goldielea) in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire.

Burns, a guest at literary parties there, became a close friend and critic of Maria Riddell, writing several love songs for her.

In early 1794, he made a drunken overture to her, which resulted in them quarrelling and Burns losing the support of his patron, who died that year.

She included some poems by Anna Laetitia Barbauld, Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire and Mary Darwall in her 1802 anthology, The Metrical Miscellany.