We love to know the story of the great woman behind the great man. But imagine the intrigue to be gained when the wife and another love of her husband’s life come together.

And the husband happens to be Robert Burns.

That’s the premise for Shonagh Murray’s play which sets up a meeting between Jean Armour, Nancy Maclehose (his Clarinda) and Burns’ granddaughter Sarah.

“I had this fascination with the very idea of Jean Armour, and how we remember her,” says the writer of the development process. “There is this picture of Jean Armour where she looks grumpy and has a sour face, and this is the way she has been theatricalised over the years. But when you think about what she’s been through I think she can be forgiven a millisecond of gloom on her face.

“And I wanted to find the different colours of her a wee bit more, to uncover the humour, to celebrate her. I really liked the photograph of her with her granddaughter, which shows her in a very different light, and then the play moved from being a scene with her granddaughter to gradually coming to write about Jean and Nancy.”

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Jean Armour was the daughter of a stonemason from Mauchline, Ayrshire, who met Burns in 1784. Burns was reluctant to marry her - even after she gave birth to twins - but Armour gave birth to two more and the wedding took place four years later.

Meantime, Burns fathered another child, which Armour looked after. However, Burns had another love in his life. Nancy Maclehose was the daughter of a Glasgow surgeon who married an abusive lawyer, who also turned out to be unfaithful. It’s claimed she denied Burns the physical relationship he craved, but his passion was reflected in his writing Ae Ford Kiss for her.

Shonagh Murray, a writer-performer- musical director who is currently working on Nessie, the Musical, loved the idea of these two women coming together. What thoughts they had to share? “We don’t have proof that Jean and Nancy actually met,” says the writer, “but we know that Jean’s life didn’t stop when Rab died. (Armour outlived her husband by 38 years). “And I loved this idea of Jean and Nancy finding some common ground.”

Murray, who grew up in South Lanarkshire, felt compelled to uncover the traits in both women who inspired Burns to write.

“I grew up around the Burns Federation school competitions so always had a fascination with him, but I realised I had this fascination with the person he keeps writing about. Jean was a well-thought-of member of her community, and she loved him despite all the trials (the affairs, the births, the stillborns, raising her husband’s children) so she was a mother in the truest sense, and incredibly strong willed.”

Shouldn’t Armour have considered Burns to be a philanderer with an inordinate sex drive? “Yes, we can talk about how he was clearly a sex pest at the time, a troubled person, and he probably had children before we heard of him, but you have to remember the times Jean Armour lived in. As a woman, you are reliant upon the man you are with, whether it’s your father or your husband. And because she loved Rab, she was able to make peace with it all and carry on.”

Robert BurnsRobert Burns (Image: free) Murray adds; “I hope this show is a feminist piece, and it’s an opportunity to celebrate who these women were and all of the different sides we didn’t get to see during Rab’s life, because he wouldn’t been privy to these conversations.

“It’s about the decisions they made for themselves, and I hope that those watching will gain an idea of what was going on behind the scenes.”

Nancy Maclehose suggests a woman with different ideals. “Where Jean is that grounded, more strait-laced person, Nancy has walked in society. She was a well-read intellectual and it seems Rab connected with her mind as much as her soul. She became his Clarinda, his muse. And while we don’t think he had an affair with her – she was still legally married – he did impregnate her maid.”

What will the two women - and Burns’ granddaughter - talk about? The fact that one woman was never going to be enough for him, that he was addicted to the idea of new love? “Yes,” says Murray, smiling. “But I’d like to think that while Rab had his careless moments and disregard for what his marriage stood for, the love he showed for his children showed he wasn’t a heartless person.”

She adds, wistfully; “I think he just didn’t know what he really wanted.”

Armour – A Herstory of the Scottish Bard. Play, Pie and a Pint, Oran Mor, Glasgow, features Irene Allen as Jean, Hilary McLean as Nancy and Karen Fishwick as Sarah Burns. September 23-28.

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