Lady Anne Clifford (1590-1676) was the only surviving child of the 3rd Earl of Cumberland by his wife Margaret Russell, daughter of the Earl of Bedford. The marriage was soured by the deaths of Anne's two elder brothers: her parents lived apart for most of her childhood. She was brought up in an almost entirely female household -- evoked in Emilia Lanier's Description of Cookeham -- and given an excellent education by her tutor, the poet Samuel Daniel. As a child she was a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I of England; she also danced in masques with Anne of Denmark, queen of King James I of England. In 1656, she erected the Countess Pillar in memory of her late mother.
