Elspeth Buchan facts for kids

Elspeth Buchan (1738–1791) was a Scottish woman who started a special religious group. This group became known as the Buchanites.

Elspeth Buchan's Early Life

Elspeth Buchan was born in 1738. Her parents, John Simpson and Margaret Gordon, ran a small inn in Scotland. As a young girl, she worked by looking after cows. Later, a relative taught her how to read and sew.

During a visit to Greenock, she met Robert Buchan, who worked with pottery. They got married, but later they had disagreements and separated. In 1781, Elspeth moved to Glasgow with her children.

Religious Beliefs and the Buchanites

In 1783, Elspeth heard a preacher named Hugh White speak in Glasgow. She was very impressed by his sermons. She wrote him a letter saying how much she liked his preaching.

Because of this, she moved to Irvine to hear him more often. She convinced both Hugh White and his wife that she was a very special person chosen by heaven. White even thought she was the woman mentioned in the Book of Revelation. Elspeth, in turn, said that White was the "man child" she had brought forth.

Because of these unusual ideas, Hugh White was removed from his job as a preacher. In May 1784, the local leaders told the group to leave Irvine. The Buchanites believed they were guided by a star, like the one that led the wise men in the Bible. They settled on a farm called New Cample in Closeburn, Dumfriesshire.

The group grew to 46 people. They called Mrs. Buchan their "spiritual mother." She claimed she could give the Holy Ghost by breathing on people. She also said she had special gifts to predict the future.

The Buchanites believed that the end of the world was coming soon. They were sure they would not die. Instead, they thought they would be taken up into the sky to meet Christ.

The famous Scottish poet Robert Burns knew a young woman named Jean Gardner who joined the Buchanites. He spent a whole night and day trying to convince her to leave the group, but she stayed. One of his songs, "As I was a walking," used a tune that the Buchanites used for their own hymns.

In 1785, Hugh White published a book called Divine Dictionary. He wrote it, and Elspeth Buchan approved it.

Elspeth Buchan passed away in May 1791. Her death made most of her followers lose their faith. Hugh White first claimed she was only in a deep sleep. He buried her secretly. However, he later gave up his belief that she would return to lead them. The very last person from the Buchanite group was Andrew Innes, who died in 1846.

Elspeth Buchan in Popular Culture

The poet Robert Burns mentioned the Buchanites in some of his personal letters. Some lines of poetry are thought to be about Elspeth Buchan:

The wicked ane frae Glasgow came,

In April auchty-three,

An' lodged her spawn among the saun,

An' noo her fry we see.

Elspeth Buchan and her followers are also featured in a story. In 1937, F. L. Lucas wrote a short novel called The Woman Clothed with the Sun. This story is told by a Scottish minister who remembers being fascinated by Elspeth when he was young. He tells about his interesting time living among the Buchanites.

More recently, a Scottish playwright named Hamish MacDonald and Dogstar Theatre created a play about Elspeth Buchan and her followers. They found her story in a local guidebook and decided to bring it to the stage.