Sempill, Robert Sempill of Beltrees (c. 1595–1665)

Scottish poet. He was a Royalist, and his ballad ‘The Life and Death of Habbie Simson, Piper of Kibarchan’ 1640 provides a picture of contemporary life just before the English Civil War.

He was the son of the poet James Sempill and the father of the poet Francis Sempill. ‘The Life and Death of Habbie Simson’ was first printed 1698. The six-line verse form that he used became known as the ‘standard Habbie’, later employed by Allan Ramsay, Robert Fergusson, and Robert Burns.