page_title: Tibbie Shiel
section_title: Life
hierarchical_section_title: Tibbie Shiel / Life
caption_attribution_description: English: Towards Tibbie Shiels Looking down the hillside above the Glen Cafe with St Mary's Loch on the left and Loch of the Lowes on the right. Tibbie Shiels Inn stands on the isthmus between the lochs.
context_page_description: Tibbie Shiel was a much-loved 19th century Scottish figure who ran Tibbie Shiel's Inn on St Mary's Loch in the Scottish Borders and was known to many authors and poets, and the subject of numerous literary works.
context_section_description: She was born Isabella Shiel in 1783, in Ettrick to Walter Shiel and his wife Mary. She was generally known by the pet name "Tibbie". She received only basic schooling and was employed generally on farm work in the Scottish Borders including working on the Ettrick sheep farm of Robert Hogg (1729-1820), where she certainly first encountered his son, James Hogg, later to become a famous poet.
  In 1806 she married Robert Richardson, a molecatcher by trade. They had three sons and three daughters. In 1823 the family moved to the idyllic spot of St Mary's Cottage at the south end of St Mary's Loch. The lands were owned by Lord Napier. Unfortunately her husband died in 1824, soon after the move. Tibbie was then forced to support her family by taking in travellers. As the house stood close to the old coach road from Selkirk to Moffat, in a very beautiful location, this proved successful. 
  The inn served ale and food and had 13 guest bedrooms. Its fame quickly grew for its hospitality and the beauty of its surroundings. Although occasionally referenced as "Mrs Richardson" she was generally known by her maiden name, Tibbie Shiel.
  As a close friend of James Hogg she said of him "he wrote a deal of trash but was a sensible man".
  Her son William ("Wullie") Shiel lived with her in her old age at the Inn, and appears with her in 19th century postcards.
  She died on 23 July 1878 aged 95, a true legend in her own lifetime. She is buried near her parents in Ettrick churchyard to the south-east. Her ghost allegedly haunts the inn.
caption: Tibbie Shiels Inn as seen from the hills in winter
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