 But the entire editorial committee of the "Minstrel" – all of them female – was aware of her identity for instance, as were her sister, nieces and grandniece.On the other hand, she shared her secret with very few men, not even her husband; as she wrote to a friend in the 1820s "I have not told even Nairne lest he blab".Consideration for her husband may have been another of Nairne's motives for maintaining her anonymity.