Our inspirational women airbrushed from history are remembered at last
Writer gives a fresh voice to neglected Scots heroines
History is written not only by the victors but, more often than not, it seems, by the men. While researching for the bestselling Scotland: The Autobiography more than a decade ago, editor Rosemary Goring found so many of our nation’s historical moments were recorded by males and few had a female perspective. She set about rectifying that by trawling the archives for women’s takes on both major events and everyday life down through the centuries, which she has now gathered in Scotland: Her Story. “There seemed to be so little on the experiences of women who played big parts in events often seen as maleorientated,” said Rosemary. “Often we don’t get their perspective in the women’s own words. It is really only when we reach Mary, Queen of Scots that we get to hear it in her own words.” Spending a year on the project, Rosemary called on government reports, court and kirk records, diaries and memoirs, and eyewitness accounts to bring the other half of history to life. The historical sweep runs from Ebba of Coldingham, who cut off her nose and lip to preserve her chastity in the face of Viking marauders, through to Nicola Sturgeon as First Minister, with little-known moments like the housewives who protested the introduction of the Book of Common Prayer and the coal-mining women of Ormiston. Rosemary said the #MeToo movement was gathering pace as she researched the book, but insists it didn’t inform the content. She added: “I definitely saw a change as the years moved on, from an age of deference from women who were able to write about it, to a change from conventional and guarded attitudes to modern ones saying what had previously not been said. “There are far more unknown names in the book than known, because I’m much more interested in everyday life.” Here, we shine a light on some of the women who left their mark on our history.
Scotland: Her Story is out tomorrow from Birlinn