Rebekah Carmichael

Rebekah Carmichael, also spelled Rebecca, later Hay (1766?–1823) was a British poet.

Biography
Rebekah Carmichael was most likely born in London and baptized at the church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields on May 24, 1766, although according to some sources she may have been born and raised in Edinburgh. If she was born in London, her reason of her moving to Scotland is unknown. Her parents died when she was young. In 1793, she married John Hay in Edinburgh, with whom she had four children, including the artist David Ramsay Hay.

As a published writer, she was active in the years 1790–1806. She appears to have had significant connections in Scotland; in 1787, Robert Burns gave her a book of poetry by Robert Fergusson, in which he wrote: "This copy of Ferguson's Poems is presented as a mark of esteem, friendship, and regard to Miss R. Carmichael, poetess". In 1790, she published in Edinburgh a collection of her works under the title Poems, signed with her birth name of Carmichael. The book was dedicated to David Stuart Moncreiff and was published by subscription; Burns was among the recipients. The topics of the poems were varied, ranging from love to musings on nature.

In 1806, she published in a single sheet "Extempore, on seeing Sir William Forbes's Funeral" under her married name.

She died in 1823 and is interred at Edinburgh.

Her poetry was included in such anthologies as Eighteenth Century Women Poets: An Oxford Anthology (1989) and Scottish Poetry, 1730-1830 (2023).