Hundreds of Scottish women’s lives and achievements feature in a new biographical dictionary. Sandra Dick casts an eye over some whose names are found within its pages.
For centuries Scottish history has been dominated by hairy, bearded blokes brandishing claymores, deep thinkers from the Scottish Enlightenment, clan chiefs, daring missionaries and tweed-suited adventurers off exploring the world.
Only rarely might the glimpse of a female figure peak through, and even then often portrayed as scheming, tragic or a bit-part player to their apparently far more interesting husband, father or son.
Now, however, a new book aims to shine a light on Scotland’s often forgotten women whose brilliant minds, courage, determination and outspokenness have often been airbrushed out of the history books but who have each played a part in shaping the nation.
Published by the Edinburgh University Press, the New Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women contains the life stories of more than 1000 women whose lives touched the nation but who, unlike their masculine rivals, have seen their names airbrushed from the national conscience.
As well as figures from the depths of Scottish history, it includes women from more modern times and follows the achievements of women who both lived, worked and died here and others from the worldwide Scottish diaspora.
And while some may be slightly more familiar names than others – such as writer Dame Muriel Spark and politician Winnie Ewing - there are dozens whose actions and influences helped shaped Scotland as we know today.
Annas Keith
While the rise and tragic fall of Mary Queen of Scots has been the subject of countless stories, books and films, far less is known of her sister-in-law Annas Keith, one of the most powerful women of her times.
Born in Dunnottar Castle in c.1540, she was a descendant of King James 1 of Scotland and Joan Beaufort, great-granddaughter of King Edward III of England.
Her marriage to Mary Queen of Scots’ half-brother and close advisor James Stewart was conducted by John Knox before a congregation packed with nobles and sparked three days of celebrations at the Palace of Holyroodhouse.
A close confident of Mary, her husband’s role of Regent of Scotland for the infant King James VI made her Scotland’s most powerful woman but perhaps her most challenging role came after his assassination when she showed remarkable resilience in running the Moray estates and defending her daughter’s inheritance.
She married again to become Countess of Argyle and wife of the Chancellor of Scotland and was excommunicated by the church for “non-adherence” to her husband.
Said to be fiercely intelligent and with a flair for politics, she was seen as being a force behind the throne until her death.
Frances Wright
A Dundee orphan, Frances ‘Franny’ Wright had a turbulent start in life.
Born in 1795, she was just two when her father, a wealthy linen merchant, died, leaving her in the care of her late mother’s sister in England.
She returned to Scotland aged 16 to embark on a remarkable life that would see her become a Utopian socialist, feminist and freethinker, and the first women to lecture on political subjects in America and an advocate for equality of the sexes.
A passionate advocate for anti-slavery and women’s rights, she was inspired by Welsh social reformer Robert to create her own experimental farm, Nashoba, in Tennessee.
She purchased around 30 slaves with a plan to offer them the chance to work their way to freedom on an estate that provided education and homes.
However, it was plagued by difficulty, while her vision for a biracial community of equals and condemnation of oppressive laws on marriage sparked controversy in Europe.
Flora MacNeil
Born on the Isle of Barra in 1928, Flora was raised with Gaelic songs and stories flowing through her DNA.
Most of her repertoire of songs, poems and stories were passed down from her mother, and from an early age she displayed a remarkable ability to recall and recite challenging pieces.
Her beautiful voice captured the attention of Hamish Henderson who, along with American musicologist Alan Lomax, recorded her singing helping to preserve a fragile slice of islands’ culture.
She died in 2015, but her work continues to influence today’s Gaelic musicians.
Maud Sulter
Born in 1960 in Glasgow of both Scottish and Ghanaian descent, Maud Sulter was a visual artist, photographer, writer, and cultural activist who co-founded and took part in a range of black feminist and lesbian projects.
She argued that her Scots-Ghanian cultures were not as disparate as they may at first have seemed, and drew inspiration from the presence of African themes in European settings.
An active feminist who strove to highlight inequalities – both historic and contemporary – her creative output in the form of text, photography, performance and sound, received critical acclaim and saw her work widely shown.
She died in 2008.
Linda Norgrove
Born in Altnaharra and raised on the Isle of Lewis, Linda Norgrove traded the peace and calm of the Outer Hebrides for the maelstrom of Afghanistan.
Driven by a desire to help her fellow man, she was in the highly volatile war zone in 2010 when she was kidnapped by associates of the Taliban.
She was held hostage for 12 days before being accidentally killed during a rescue mission.
Her parents later launched the Linda Norgrove Foundation which educates and supports Afghan women and children. She posthumously received awarded the Robert Burns Humanitarian Award.
Gunnie Moberg
Born in Gothenburg in 1941, Gunnie Morberg made Edinburgh her home from the age of 16.
She had a passion for photography that in 1979 saw the publication of her first book, Stone Built, a collection of 18 aerial pictures taken across Orkney where she had made her home.
She worked in collaboration with the poet George Mackay Brown, with her photographs providing a visual accompaniment to his poetry.
In 2003, four years before her death aged 66, she joined 20 prominent Scottish artists who had been commissioned to produce work for the Scottish Parliament building in Edinburgh.
Hilda Jamieson
Born in 1913, Hilda Jamieson was still on her skis at the grand age of 102, and only quit when her eyes failed.
A fearless racer in her youth, she was a Scottish ladies’ skiing champion but was best known for having pioneered the sport alongside her husband David.
The couple built up what would become the hugely popular Glenshee Ski Centre, paving the way for Scotland’s other ski resorts and inspiring generations of women to take up the sport.
She died just weeks after her final ski run, in 2016.
Kay Carmichael
Born in 1925, Kay Carmichael was a passionate anti-nuclear campaigner who embraced what were regarded at the time as ‘unfashionable’ causes, including decriminalisation of prostitution, gay rights and prison reform.
She was once sentenced to two weeks in prison after planting flowers during a ‘guerrilla raid’ into Faslane Naval Base, and while a member of the Government’s Supplementary Benefits Commission went undercover to live on benefits in Glasgow’s Lilybank area.
The episode was filmed for a BBC documentary which divided opinions but also raised awareness of poverty and hardship in modern Britain.
She was an influential figure within the Labour movement throughout the 1960s and 1970s and helped mould policies and opinions across a range of divisive areas.
She died in 2009.
The New Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women, edited by Elizabeth Ewan, Rose Pipes, Jane Rendall, Siân Reynolds, is published by Edinburgh University Press.
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