She refused publication at the time and Burns never forgave this perceived slight on his genius,[6] Wilhelmina never married, she did however treasure the letter and the manuscript of the song until her dying day.

[10][11] Prior to the Alexanders owning Ballochmyle Robert Burns had been in the habit of walking through the otherwise private policies thanks to his friendship with the Whitefords, the then lairds.

[12] Although Wilhelmina never actually spoke to Robert Burns,[13] on the site where the poet first saw his 'Bonnie Lass o' Ballochmyle' a Fog House was built in his honour and to the occasion of his first seeing her one July day.

[19] Burns wrote to her on 18 November 1786,[20] enclosing a copy of the song, seeking her permission to allow him to publish it in his second edition of his 'Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect'.

[21] Burns had started his letter: "Madam, Poets are outre Beings, so much the children on wayward Fancy and capricious Whim, that I believe the world generally allows them a larger latitude in the rules of Propriety, than the sober Sons of Judgement and Prudence ..."[22] Wilhelmina was at least 30 years old[23] at the time and no great beauty, so thinking that Robert was teasing her and after becoming aware of his reputation and after seeking advice from her brother[24] she decided that the lack of a reply would be the best option.

"[29] At the time of writing the song he was basking in the fame generated through the first 1786 edition of his poems and the flattery of Mrs Dunlop, clearly the refusal and perceived attitude of Wilhelmina deeply and permanently dented both his pride and his new found confidence.

[30][31] A local acquaintance, Saunders Tait, did little to improve Burns' feelings when this 'village laureate' was invited to Ballochmyle to sing in person a song that he written about Mrs Alexander.

[42] Cuthbertson visited in the 1940s and comments on the winding mossy paths by which the 'heather house' was reached, confirming that it was built on the site where the poet, leaning against a tree, first espied Wilhelmina Alexander.