Winnie Ewing was a trailblazing politician whose victory in the Hamilton by-election in 1967 made her the first female Scottish parliamentarian and played a key role in transforming politics north of the Border.

Known famously as Madame Ecosse, tributes poured in across the SNP and wider independence movement today to the 93-year-old former MP, MEP and MSP who died on Wednesday.

Flags at the Scottish Parliament, where two of her three children - Fergus and Annabelle - are MSPs, were lowered in tribute to her this afternoon.

Described as a "beloved icon" of Scottish nationalism, extracts from two of Mrs Ewing's most important speeches, given more than 30 years apart, are now familiar to many Scots and to many SNP supporters she encapsulated the central internationalist and outward looking philosophy of the modern party.

The Herald:

Winnie Ewing being sworn into the Scottish Parliament as an SNP MSP in 1999.

They span the period from Scottish nationalism emerging in the Hamilton by-election as a permanent and enduring force, to its partial realisation with the establishment of the Scottish Parliament.

After her shock triumph at Hamilton on November 2 1967, which in turn led to a surge in support for the SNP, she declared: "Stop the world, Scotland wants to get on".

And almost 32 years later in the Scottish Parliament at its opening session on May 12 1999, she told the world: “The Scottish Parliament, adjourned on the 25th day of March in the year 1707, is hereby reconvened."

Mrs Ewing was the first presiding officer of the reconvened Scottish Parliament in 1999, and in a statement today her family said she had "sparked the revival of the SNP's fortunes, which continue to this day, with her victory in the Hamilton by-election of 1967".

The Herald:

Winnie Ewing, at home with her children from left, Fergus, ten, Terry, three, and Annabelle, seven, on November 3 1967 after winning the Hamilton by election. Photo: The Herald. 

Born in Glasgow in 1929, she gained a law degree from Glasgow University, before being elected to the UK Parliament in 1967 where she sat as the solitary SNP MP and the only the second SNP figure elected to Westminster.

“I certainly was an expert at being in a minority, for there was only me," she later wrote.

Despite losing the Hamilton seat at the next election in 1970, she was re-elected to Westminster in 1974 for Moray and Nairn, and retained her seat in the second election in October of the same year.

She also served in the European Parliament, representing the Highlands and Islands after losing her Westminster seat in the 1979.

She resigned as an MEP in 1999 to stand as a candidate for the new Scottish Parliament, representing the Highlands and Islands until 2003.

The Herald:

Winnie Ewing arriving in Westminster after her election as SNP MP. Photo Edward Jones/The Herald.

Mrs Ewing was president of the SNP until 2005 when she stood down from elected office, however she remained an ardent supporter of the independence cause.

A profile by journalist Murray Ritchie in The Herald in 1995, when she was guest of honour at a formal reception in Brussels gave a glimpse into her vivacious personality and charm.

"She will be guest of honour at a formal reception on Monday when she will be on her best behaviour," he wrote.

The Herald:

SNP MSPs Annabelle and Fergus Ewing pictured in Holyrood. Photo PA.

"On the following night there will be a less formal party when, with luck, the other Winnie Ewing will turn up. This second, more entertaining Winnie Ewing likes nothing more than a ceilidh and an argument.

"This is the feisty political combatant and nationalist crusader, the Winnie Ewing of the flashing anger with anyone who criticises Scotland or dares to dispute her opinions. "The Winnie Ewing who picks arguments and celebrates winning them -- which she usually does -- by breaking into song over a dram. It should be a lively night."

In her autobiography, Stop the World (StW), she recorded that she first became a Scottish nationalist at  the age of nine, when she heard a band play The Road to the Isles on a trip “doon the watter” to Kilchatten Bay in Bute.

The Herald:

Winnie Ewing pictured with her son Fergus. Photo: The Herald.

Her breakthrough at Hamilton can be understood in the context of Britain as a diminishing power by that time. In mid-November 1967, Prime Minister Harold Wilson finally caved into pressure and devalued sterling, which marked a significant moment in Britain’s relative economic decline.

A few days after that, French president Charles de Gaulle vetoed the UK’s application to join the European Economic Community, for the second time.

He believed that Britain had a “deep-seated hostility” towards the European project, and that the UK government showed a “lack of interest” in the common market.

As well as Hamilton – one of Labour’s safest seats – there were two other by-elections held that same day: one in Manchester, held by Labour, and another in Leicester that was lost heavily.

However, Mr Wilson was in no doubt as to which was the most troubling, finding it beyond him even to mention Mrs Ewing by name: “Even worse, we lost the traditionally safe seat of Hamilton in Scotland to the Scottish Nationalist. True, the Conservatives could gain little comfort here, since their vote fell from over 11,000 to fewer than 5,000 and they lost their deposit. But our vote fell far more, and a 16,576 majority in 1966 gave way to a Scottish Nationalist majority of 1,799."

Professor James Mitchell of Edinburgh University has summed up the profound and long lasting significance of Mrs Ewing's by-election victory.

In his book on the by election, he wrote: “After Hamilton, politics in Scotland would be viewed through a Scottish lens by all parties seeking support north of the border.”