Scotland's Hidden Harlots & Heroines

Women's Role in Scottish Society from 1690–1969

Annie Harrower-Gray

• Publisher: Pen & Sword Social
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781473834705
• Topic: Storia
• Subtopic: Storia scozzese

Rediscover Scottish history through the eyes of its most unique and outspoken women in this volume of entertaining tales from the eighteenth century to the twentieth. Annie Harrower-Gray introduces readers to three centuries of rebellious, innovative, and downright scandalous Scottish women. The whole of society appears, from ordinary laborers, prostitutes and factory hands to their more celebrated sisters and even witches, bodysnatchers, and female Jacobites. The tales of these colorful characters are freshly researched and engagingly told. Step inside the boudoirs of Edinburgh's ladies of pleasure, whose civilized manners so confused one church minister that he 'accidentally' took tea in a brothel. Creep into the graveyard with Helen Torrance and Jean Lapiq, convicted of bodysnatching half a century before Burke and Hare. Uncover the murky history of Scotland's last witch Helen Duncan, whose eerily accurate wartime predictions led to her imprisonment. This book offers an exciting and erudite voyage through the social history of Scotland.

Part One

1690–1800

Chapter One

Wives – A Valuable Commodity

In a wee cot hoose far across the muir,

Where pease-weeps, plovers, an’ waups cry dreary,

There liv’d an auld maid for mony lang years,

Wha ne’er a woo-er did e’er ca her dearie,

A lanely lass was Kate Dalrymple,

A thrifty quean was Kate Dalrymple,

Nae music, exceptin’ the clear burnie’s wimple,

Was heard round the dwellin’ o’ Kate Dalrymple

Her face had a smack o’ the gruesome an’ grim
That did frae the fash o’ a’ the wooers defend her
Her long Roman nose nearly met wi’ her chin,
That brang folk in mind o’ the auld witch o’ Endor
A wiggle in her walk had Kate Dalrymple
A sniggle in her talk had Kate Dalrymple
An’ mony a cornelian an’ Cairngorm pimple
Did blaze on the dun face of Kate Dalrymple

But mony are the ups an’ the downs in life,

When the dice-box o’ fates jumbled a’ tapsal-teerie,

Sae Kate fell heiress to a rich frien’s estate,

An’ nae langer for woo-ers had she cause to weary

The Laird came a-wooin’ soon o’ Kate Dalrymple

The lawyer, scrapin’, bowin’, fan oot Kate Dalrymple;

Owre ilk woo-ers face was seen love’s smilin’ dimple,

Sae noo she’s nae mair Kate but Miss Dalrymple’.

(Traditional Scottish Reel by William Watt
on society beauty, Grace Dalrymple Elliot)

Scotland’s two best-known female celebrities lived centuries apart and came from totally different walks of life, yet both achieved fame due to the extensive documentation of their lives. The privileged but tragic life of Mary Queen of Scots is preserved in Scotland’s archives. The existence of the famous ‘Casket Letters’, her adultery and accusations of complicity in the murder of her husband Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley have all been discussed and disputed in numerous biographies, and her life continues to be a matter for both academic interest and speculation.

Meanwhile, born fully-formed in Glebe Street in 1936, Maw Broon was the creation of cartoonist Dudley Watkins and Robert Low, a managing editor at D.C. Thomson. The brood Maw presides over – her husband Paw, her old rogue of a father-in-law Grandpaw, bookish son Horace, glamorous daughter Maggie, plain Daphne, attractive Joe, lanky Hen, the twins and the bairn – are not only a family but a fair representation of society at the time. Maw is iconic in that she is not only the family matriarch but mother to all working-class Scots. Up until the last few decades, Maw Broon stood for all that was considered admirable in Scottish women. A martyr to her family’s problems and predicaments, she was selfless and dependable in maintaining their respectability. Committed to shopping, cooking, cleaning and meeting their every need, Maw, and women like her, had no time for any passions or hobbies of their own.

Whether born into sixteenth century royalty or an early twentieth century tenement, one of the major deciding factors in all Scottish women’s lives was their choice of husband, or rather the husband who chose them. Both the conniving Lord Darnley and the mischievous Paw Broon dictated the standards by which their wives lived. Only a few women could afford the privilege of staying single. Until the nineteenth century, on marrying a woman lost independent legal status and was considered to come under the authority of her husband. Legal status and financial autonomy was only returned to women when they became widowed. Wealthy widows were considered by some fortune-seekers as desirable wives but many women chose not to remarry and flourished by their own efforts.

On the death of her first husband, Robert Kennedy, a writer who died in 1671, Mary Erskine became a shopkeeper. After the death of her second, an apothecary, she paid off his debts and developed into a successful businesswoman. She was a property owner and wedwife, or moneylender, letting out properties and lending money to businessmen, professionals and to other widows wishing to either continue their husband’s business or start their own. Mary did not trust her now considerable wealth in the hands of a third husband, instead becoming a philanthropist. She generously contributed to a proposal for a school to educate the daughters of Edinburgh burgesses and impoverished girls of the city’s middle classes. This became the Edinburgh Ladies College, later the Mary Erskine School, which is now one of the oldest schools in the world. Mary also helped to establish the Merchant Maiden Hospital, founded in 1694, as well as bequeathing money to the Incorporations of Trades, who had followed the merchants in setting up their own hospital.

For single women, remaining unmarried could be a risky business. Women living alone or with other women were often suspected of prostitution. In the late Middle Ages it seems that in Scottish cities prostitution was tolerated and controlled, officially confined to brothels. By 1530, magistrates in Edinburgh saw only two prospects for domestic servants dismissed on becoming pregnant – marriage or the brothel. The brothel was seen by some as a place to consign unruly women. After the Scottish Reformation in 1560, the reformers took a different view of such immorality and efforts were made to stamp out prostitution altogether. What had been a frowned upon but legal means for a woman to earn money now became a crime, and its perpetrators were hunted and punished.

Rather than live outside the model household and risk prosecution, there were women who hid behind a marriage as they looked elsewhere for their unconventional sexual pleasures. These women could also come to the attention of the Kirk and the law. Maud Galt was the wife of wright John Dickie, and lived in Kilbarchan with her husband and two servants. One of her servants, Agnes Mitchell, brought a complaint against her employer at a Kirk Session in September 1649. She brought to the Kirk a piece of clay shaped into the likeness of a man’s private member and claimed Maud had done unspeakable things to her with the rudely-shaped clay.

Agnes wanted to take the complaint to the local laird, but was hindered by the shame of the act done to her, which was said to have been witnessed by two neighbours. The session investigated Maud Galt’s ‘vyle act in abusing ane of hir servants with ane peis [piece] of clay formed lyk the secreit members of ane man’, but decided to bring a charge of witchcraft against her instead. There is no record of any commission for Maud’s trial, so the charges may have been dropped.

Outlaws and In-laws

Five thousand years ago women held positions of high spiritual power in Scotland. In the Neolithic period communal sharing was phased out in Scotland and agriculture developed. Gradually, land ownership took over and women’s lives changed drastically. Society was split between landowners and a hierarchal system of slaves. Mothers lost their spiritual prestige and became regarded as part of a man’s property. With the coming of Christianity, female independence declined even further and would change little over the next 1,400 years. Bible teachings thumped home the message that the female sex was morally lacking, it symbolized temptation, corrupted men and needed to be brought under control.

By 1690 the Reformation was complete and Presbyterianism firmly in charge not only of women, but the whole of Scottish society. One of the most difficult customs the reformed church intended to conquer in its quest to control the populace was the rising number of what it considered irregular marriages. At that time, under canon law dating back to the Middle Ages, all that was required for a marriage to be legal was for the bride and groom to state that they would take each other for man and wife in the presence of two witnesses. A promise to marry, followed by sexual intercourse was also regarded as binding if witnesses could confirm that the couple had shared a bed.

One reason for the rise of irregular marriages after the revolution of 1689/90 was the beginning of the reign of William III and Mary II, after the Roman Catholic James VII fled to France. This resulted in a change from Episcopal Church government to the Presbyterian Church and most Episcopal ministers were thrown out of their posts. For a fee, some now penniless ministers would still conduct marriages for those who preferred a ceremony conducted by the Episcopalian clergy. Such marriages were outlawed and could not be legally performed until the Marriage Act of 1711, which allowed only certain Episcopalian ministers to conduct the ceremony. Others, known as celebrators, including some defrocked ministers like David Strang, who was dismissed from a northern parish for misconduct, were happy to marry couples for a small fee.

The cost of a regular wedding and celebration was beyond the means of many couples, and some bridegrooms were soldiers or sailors on leave, wishing to marry before rejoining their regiment or ship. The Church came down hard on all those participating in such marriages. An act was passed in 1661 threatening offenders who married outside the church with three months’ imprisonment and a sliding scale of fines from a hundred merks (silver marks) to a thousand Scots pounds. In 1698 a further act also penalised witnesses at such weddings and the men who conducted the ceremony.

The Kirk believed that the proclamation of banns on three successive Sundays and a ceremony carried out by the parish church minister made a wedding a sufficiently public event to deter bigamy. Instead, these new rules often caused the couple financial hardship, as they were required to pay ‘consignation money’, which was only returned to them if a child was not born less than nine months later and there was no boisterous party after the wedding. To prevent the riotous drinking and dancing that usually took place at the penny weddings or parties held by those who could not afford lavish celebrations, such receptions were forbidden. It is perhaps unsurprising that the less well-off decided to avoid a regular wedding, if they were such dour events!

Changes in marriage trends were not only those brought about by the reformists. In medieval times parents chose marriage partners for their children from local families. Wealthy families gave great thought to the property and status of their daughter’s prospective bridegroom. As most people had limited social circles, the girl’s wishes usually coincided with those of her parents due to sheer lack of choice. Towards the end of the seventeenth century, however, young girls began to be sent off to boarding school and allowed to attend balls and functions in Edinburgh, where they met young men unknown to their families. Children began to demand a greater say in their choice of marriage partner, but now more than ever money and status mattered most. A connection with an influential family was seen as worthwhile as matrimonial allegiances, between members of the aristocracy had a great deal of influence on politics, legal battles and everyday business.

Some young men were beginning to consider more than just the tocher (dowry), and demanded certain personal qualities in their brides. A pious young woman of impeccable reputation, who was also frugal in controlling her household budget, was the ideal life-partner. Virtue was important to a man, and equally an honourable husband was valued by most women, so all the rules of etiquette had to be observed during the courtship. If the first meeting between the prospective couple was a success, then the gentlemen would call upon the family and write regularly to the young woman. Girls were not allowed to take the initiative.

When everything was settled to the mutual satisfaction of the couple and their families, the marriage contract was drawn up. Many contracts began with a promise of marriage between the two signatories and the date of the wedding, though this was often left blank as a fine could be imposed if there was a delay. The main issues of the contract to be settled were the size of the jointure, the piece of land put in joint possession of bride and groom, and the tocher, or dowry. The wife did not directly draw any financial benefits from this land, but during her husband’s lifetime she would be supported by him. If the husband predeceased his wife, she could draw an annuity for her maintenance. The tocher was usually for a larger sum than the value of the land and again came under the control of the husband. With all the bargaining completed, the wedding would take place the day after the banns were read for the third time. In prosperous families the celebrations could last for several weeks, supported by a vast supply of beef, freshly-baked bread, sweetmeats and wine. Marriage contracts were not only exchanged between members of the aristocracy and landed gentry, but also amongst more humble members of society. Only the amount of money involved and what was to be gained by both parties varied.

Most of the middle classes in urban areas of Scotland once belonged to the mercantile professions and guilds. A man would normally enter the mercantile profession as a teenage apprentice and on finishing his training qualify to become a burgess and enter the appropriate guild. There were several ways to gain membership: as the son of a merchant; paying a hefty fee; waiting a further period of time; or the option most young men preferred, marrying the daughter of their master or another merchant. The possession of such a wife gave the apprentice not only inexpensive entry into the guild, but it also provided a small tocher and the seal of complete respectability. For the merchant it was a cheap way of disposing of the daughter whilst securing some guarantee that he would be cared for by a well set up mercantile family in his old age. Farmers, weavers, millers, dyers and servants all made marriage contracts following the fashions of the peerage. The settlements may have been smaller, yet just as much thought went into the process. Only the penniless could afford to marry for love.

Honeymoons, or honeymonths, were popular, but the bride and groom did not go away together. Instead the wedding night was generally spent at the home of the bride’s parents. If the couple wished for a little privacy after their nuptials, then they would be sorely disappointed. The public bedding of the pair was part of the entertainment. The last part of the marriage ritual was the homecoming, when bride and groom left the celebrations to set up home together. They were accompanied by the wedding guests and the first feast of the new home was held. It was usually well into the night before the last guest left these lavish affairs

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