Tibbie Shiel

She received only basic schooling and was employed generally on farm work in the Scottish Borders including working on the Ettrick sheep farm of Robert Hogg (1729-1820), where she certainly first encountered his son, James Hogg, later to become a famous poet.

Her husband died in 1824, soon after the move, and Tibbie was forced to support her family by taking in travellers.

As the house stood close to the old coach road from Selkirk to Moffat, in an appealing location, this proved successful.

[4] Her son William ("Wullie") Shiel lived with her in her old age at the Inn, and appears with her in 19th century postcards.

Many of Christopher North's 71 Noctes Ambrosianae in Blackwood's Magazine mention Tibbie Shiel's Inn and St Mary's Loch, and did much to further promote its fame.

Hogg refers to it in multiple works and his statue now stands nearby overlooking the loch.

Tibbie Shiel 1875
Tibbie Shiel's Inn from the meadow to the east
The bridge to Tibbie Shiel's Inn
Tibbie Shiels Inn as seen from the hills in winter
The view of St Mary's Loch from the Inn