Grizel Baillie

Lady Grizel Baillie
Engraving by G. J. Stodart after a portrait by Maria Verelst at Mellerstain House
Born	25 December 1665 Redbraes Castle, Berwickshire
Died	6 December 1746 (aged 80) London
Nationality	Scottish
Occupation	songwriter
Notable work	Were na my heart licht I wad die

Lady Grizel Baillie (née Hume; 25 December 1665 – 6 December 1746) was a Scottish songwriter.

Born at Redbraes Castle, Berwickshire, Grizel Hume was the eldest daughter of Sir Patrick Hume, Bt (later Earl of Marchmont). When she was twelve years old, she carried letters from her father to a Scottish conspirator in the Rye House Plot, Robert Baillie of Jerviswood, who was then in prison. Hume's sympathy for Baillie made him a suspected man, and the king's troops occupied Redbraes Castle. He remained in hiding for some time in the crypt of Polwarth Church, where his daughter smuggled him food; but on hearing of the execution of Baillie (1684), he fled to the United Provinces, where his family joined him soon after. They returned to Scotland after the Glorious Revolution.

In 1692, Lady Grizel married George Baillie, son of Robert. The couple had first met when they were twelve, and supposedly fell in love at that point. What is known for certain is that after returning to Scotland, Lady Grizel turned down the offer to be one of Queen Mary's maids of honour, and insisted to her parents on marrying Baillie over a more advantageous match. The couple had two daughters: Grizel (1692–1759), who married British army officer Sir Alexander Murray of Stanhope in 1710; and Rachel (1696–1773), who married Charles Lord Binning in 1717 (and whose son Thomas became the seventh Earl of Haddington). They also had a short-lived son, Robert (23 February 1694 – 28 February 1696).