Anne Ingram, Viscountess Irvine

Anne, Viscountess Irvine (c. 1696 – 2 December 1764) was a British court official. She was a poet and a correspondent of Sir John Vanbrugh and Horace Walpole.

Quotes

• A female mind like a rude fallow lies;
  No seed is sown, but weeds spontaneous rise.
  As well might we expect, in winter, spring,
  As land untilled a fruitful crop should bring.
  • "An Epistle to Mr Pope. Occasioned by his Characters of Women", in The Gentleman's Magazine, vol. 6, no. 12 (December 1736), p. 745
  • Variants in BL, Add. MS 28101, fol. 100v; reported in the ODNB, online ed. (2008):

    In Education all the Diff'rence lies:
    ... A Female Mind like a rude Fallow lies,
    Thorns there—& Thistles—all spontaneous rise.
    ... Culture improves all Soils.

External links

• Encyclopedic article on Anne Ingram, Viscountess Irvine on Wikipedia