Rabbie Burns connection led to romance and a happy ending
A love story which began in Paisley two centuries previously was to have a happy ending in June 1985.
That’s when couple Karen Armour and John Wilson were to marry.
And their romance would have seemed familiar to Rabbie Burns enthusiasts.
Karen was related to the Bard’s wife Jean Armour who almost married John’s ancestor, Paisley weaver Robert Wilson in 1786.
The modern-day love story began when John, a 24-yearold joiner from Colmonnel in Ayrshire, met Karen at a dance.
He was writing a book about his links with Burns and discovered that record department assistant Karen was also related to the Bard through her mother’s family, the Browns. Jean Armour was also one of her ancestors.
Love blossomed as they toured old churches and graveyards seeking clues to the past.
And they also visited the grave of Robert Wilson, who is buried in Mauchline Cemetery.
200 years before, Jean was packed off to Paisley by her mother to find a husband. She was sent to stay with her uncle Andrew Purdie.
Jean’s mother hoped her daughter would marry Wilson, who was one of her boyfriends, at Mauchline, and who had moved to Paisley.
But Jean was pregnant by Burns.
And Wilson told her that he would never marry until she married her true love.
In 1792 Burns, by then Jean’s husband, wrote a poem called The Gallant Weaver, which is thought to be dedicated to Robert Wilson.