Women’s Writing in the British Isles from the Beginnings to the Present
Constantia Grierson
-
Standard Name: Grierson, Constantia
Birth Name: Constantia Crawley
Married Name: Constantia Grierson
Indexed Name: Mrs Grierson
The Irishwoman CG
(who apparently came from the lower classes but is never reckoned among the eighteenth-century labouring-class poets) was well-known as a scholar in her lifetime, and might be better known as a poet if she had not died so young. Of her output, besides scholarly editions, only just under twenty poems and five short prose pieces are known to survive.
Elias, A. C., Jr. “A Manuscript of Constantia Grierson’s”. Swift Studies, Vol.
MB
had at least four identified children: Constantine, Mira or Myra, Rupert, and Lucius, born between August 1714 and 1720. Constantine, or Con, plays a conspicuous role in his mother's poetry. Later, he became a...
Friends, Associates
Laetitia Pilkington
LP
's friendship with Constantia Grierson
had begun before her marriage. Both she and her husband were friends and protegées of Swift
, and she met and entertained the future Mary Delany
on the latter's...
Friends, Associates
Laetitia Pilkington
LP
's non-respectable situation as well as, it seems, her disposition, made it hard for her to form friendships with women. She always retained her devotion to Constantia Grierson
, before and after the latter's...
Friends, Associates
Mary Barber
MB
was a close friend of Constantia Grierson
. Her friendship with Jonathan Swift
endured many vicissitudes; that with Laetitia Pilkington
did not survive her apparently siding with Pilkington's husband
when the couple fell out...
Friends, Associates
Mary Delany
In the category of Irish wits she included Jonathan Swift
, Constantia Grierson
and Laetitia Pilkington
. Though Pilkington's closeness to Swift
was an important point in her favour, MD
was still demonstrating a certain...
LP
was vividly aware of the literary handicap represented by her gender. But she was choosy about claiming influence. She decried Manley
, Haywood
, and Mary Barber
(whose poems, she says, would have been...
Reception
Fidelia
Over the next couple of months came further poems by Elizabeth Carter
,
Gentleman’s Magazine. Various publishers.
5 (1735): 379
Melissa
(who says Fidelia outgoes her in both spleen and brain), by Fido,
Gentleman’s Magazine. Various publishers.
5 (1735) 382
the...
Textual Features
Dorothea Du Bois
After seven pages on grammar, she offers pattern letters: those in verse are in effect an anthology of epistolary poems by women, a patriotically generous selection of Irish writers (Mary Monck
, Mary Barber
Theme or Topic Treated in Text
Priscilla Wakefield
Despite the title, the travel in this sequel or companion to The Juvenile Travellers confines itself to the British Isles, where one of the most pressing topics of local interest is association with writers...
Theme or Topic Treated in Text
Mary Scott
In the dedication she mentions a few new publications that came to her attention too late to be discussed in the poem itself. These include works by Hester Chapone
, Hannah More
, and Phillis Wheatley
Timeline
No timeline events available.
Texts
Tacitus,. C Cornelii Taciti opera quæ exstant ex recensione et cum animadversionibus Theodori Ryckii. Editor Grierson, Constantia, George Grierson, 1730, 3 vols.
Grierson, Constantia. Miscellaneous Poems by Mrs. Constantia Grierson Wife to Mr. Grierson.
Virgil,. P. Virgilii Maronis opera. Editor Grierson, Constantia, George Grierson, 1724.
Barber, Mary et al. Poems on Several Occasions. C. Rivington, 1734.
Terence,. Publii Terentii Afri comoediæ. Editor Grierson, Constantia, Editio novissima, George Grierson, 1727, p. 264 pp.
Grierson, Constantia. The Art of Printing. 1764.
Grierson, Constantia. The Goddess Envy to Doctor D—l—y. 1730.