Joanna Belfrage Picken

Joanna Belfrage Picken
Joanna Belfrage Picken
Born	8 May 1798; Edinburgh
Died	25 March 1859; Montreal
Nationality	British
Other names	poems

Joanna Belfrage Picken (8 May 1798 – 25 March 1859) was known as the "Poet of Paisley".

"A queer kind o' lott'ry is marriage—
Ye never ken what ye may draw,
Ye may get a braw hoose an' a carriage,
Or maybe get nae hoose ava.
I say na 'tis best to be single,
But ae thing's to me unco clear:
Far better sit lane by the ingle
Than thole what some wives hae to bear."

Joanna Belfrage Picken1876[1]

Life

Picken was born in Edinburgh in 1798. Her father was Ebenezer Picken who was a minor poet.[2] She and her sister established a boarding school in Musselburgh, but their attempt was a failure, possibly due to uncomplimentary poems that Picken published about local figures. Picken wrote verses for the Glasgow Courier and other newspapers.[3]

She left for Canada in 1842 with other family members where she became a music teacher, writing poetry under the name "Alpha". She died of apoplexy in Montreal on 25 March 1859 and is buried in the Mount Royal Cemetery there.[3]

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gollark: As Olivia, not particularly.

References

Quoted in Marilyn Malina, "Picken, Joanna Belfrage [pseud. Alpha] (1798–1859)", The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004. Retrieved 4 April 2018. (subscription required)
"Picken, Ebenezer" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
Marilyn Malina, "Picken, Joanna Belfrage [pseud. Alpha] (1798–1859)", The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004. Retrieved 4 April 2018. (subscription required)

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[1] Quoted in Marilyn Malina, "Picken, Joanna Belfrage [pseud. Alpha] (1798–1859)", The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004. Retrieved 4 April 2018. (subscription required)

[2] "Picken, Ebenezer" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.

[ODNB-3] Marilyn Malina, "Picken, Joanna Belfrage [pseud. Alpha] (1798–1859)", The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004. Retrieved 4 April 2018. (subscription required)