TOURING around Scotland, it is the statues and the stories of men that are most visible. The contribution of women who have shaped our world is just as important but not as easy to find.
That’s why The National is publishing a series of guides highlighting the importance of women to our towns and cities – from art and architecture to food and football. So travel with us round the streets of the capital Edinburgh as we explore some of the stories of women past and present.
Marking Scotland’s grisly past
A SMALL cast-iron plaque and drinking fountain tucked away on the approach to Edinburgh Castle marks the site where women were burnt at the stake as witches. The Witches’ Well at Castlehill was commissioned by philanthropist
Sir Patrick Geddes in 1894 as a memorial to the hundreds of innocent victims who suffered a grisly death at this spot.
READ MORE: The women who shaped Scotland: A closer look at Glasgow's past
A recent campaign has been seeking a pardon, apology and memorial for all those in Scotland who were accused and convicted under the Witchcraft Act which was in force between 1563 and 1736.
A remarkable tale of survival
ONE of the many pubs in the city’s Grassmarket, Maggie Dickson’s bears the name of an 18th-century woman who became immortalised after surviving the hangman’s noose. According to accounts, she was a fish hawker who was abandoned by her husband and later became pregnant after a relationship with an innkeeper’s son.
Fearing she would lose her job, she concealed her pregnancy and when the baby died after a premature birth she abandoned the body. She was taken to Edinburgh to be executed in the Grassmarket after her actions were discovered.
But that’s not the end of the tale – as her body was taken for burial, a knocking and banging was heard from within the coffin. She was found to be alive – and lived for another 40 years with the nickname of Half-Hangit Maggie.
The woman who voted 300 years ahead of time
ONE of the city’s most interesting lanes has become famous for being entombed beneath the streets when the inhabitants were decimated by plague. But Mary King’s Close is named after a 17th-century merchant woman who had to raise her four children alone after the death of her husband.
She inherited a title of Burgess, giving her a seat on Edinburgh Council, which granted her voting rights long before the victory of the Suffragettes in winning enfranchisement for all women, and was a successful tailor and cloth merchant. She died the year before the plague ravaged Edinburgh, leading to the bricking up of the close which is still preserved for visitors today.
Monuments to community champions
LIKE the rest of Scotland, Edinburgh has few statues commemorating women but one monument in the city, on the corner of North Charlotte Street and St Colme Street, remembers 19th-century writer Catherine Sinclair (below). She produced a range of popular books for children and it is also believed she discovered Walter Scott was behind the Waverley novels, which had been published anonymously.
The Gothic spire memorial erected a few years after her death in 1864 was loosely modelled on the Scott Monument and recognised Sinclair’s charitable work included funding soup kitchens, drinking fountains and street benches.
Away from the city centre, a statue to a woman who was devoted to improving the lives of the community of Craigmillar was unveiled in 2014. Dr Helen Crummy was best known for founding the Craigmillar Festival and the statue on Niddrie Mains Road references show her handing a son a violin bow – referencing how she was inspired to set up the festival when her son’s school refused to give him a lesson in the instrument.
A campaign is also under way to fund a statue in the High Street dedicated to pioneering Edinburgh doctor Elsie Inglis, founder of the Scottish Women’s Hospitals which arranged medical units in countries such as France, Romania and Serbia during the First World War.
A shop dedicated to great books by women
IN a city renowned for its literary connections, there’s an independent bookshop dedicated to celebrating and promoting women’s writing. Rare Birds Books was opened in Raeburn Place in Stockbridge by founder Rachel Woods (below) as the headquarters for what started as a book club focusing on predominantly female authors.
A bloody Royal connection
EDINBURGH is known for its royal links, with Holyrood Palace the official residence of the Queen while she is in Scotland.
But there’s a bloody connection to one of the most famous monarchs to reside there. In the palace’s supper room, Mary, Queen of Scots, witnessed the murder of her private secretary David Rizzio on March 9, 1566, when he was stabbed to death by her jealous husband, Lord Darnley, with the assistance of a group of powerful lords.
It is said the bloodstains from his body can still be seen in the outer chamber. In the wake of the killing, Mary abandoned the palace for Edinburgh Castle, where she gave birth to the future King James VI. Just over 20 years later she was beheaded after being accused of involvement in a plot to murder Elizabeth I.
Pioneers from chicks to chic
A WEALTH of stories about fascinating women can be found in the archives of the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. Take Evelyn Baxter and Leonora Rintoul, two of Scotland’s most significant ornithologists who devoted their lives to studying the birds of Scotland in the early 20th century.
They contributed to understanding patterns of migration, helped found the Scottish Ornithologists Club and donated a collection of around 1200 bird skins to the museum.
For a different kind of collection, National Museums Scotland holds the archives of iconic fashion designer Jean Muir, who helped fundraise for the museum. There are a staggering 18,000 objects which document her designs from 1966-95, ranging from patterns and sketches to intricately made dresses and striking coats.
The daughter who pioneered garden design
SIR Patrick Geddes pops up again as a name known to many for being one of the most globally influential town planners – but the contribution of his daughter Norah is far less recognised.
She pursued a career in garden design in the early 20th century – when professional opportunities for women in this area were extremely limited – and played a leading role in her father’s OpenSpaces project which aimed to use derelict urban plots for garden and play areas.
READ MORE: International Women's Day: Female achievements to be celebrated in Holyrood
Her works include collaborating with her father for the planning of Edinburgh Zoo gardens – together with her husband Frank Mears – and she designed West Port Garden as one of several areas in the Old Town where slum children could experience nature and green space.
Hitting the sweet spot on the food scene
AMONG the women-led businesses in the capital are a couple which are ideal spots if you fancy indulging in something sweet. Head to Mary’s Milk Bar in the Grassmarket for quality gelato and chocolate. It was founded by Mary Hillard who trained at the prestigious Carpigiani Gelato University in Bologna, Italy.
There’s also Lovecrumbs
in West Port, which serves homemade sweet treats and savoury snacks and was dreamt up 2011 by cake lovers Rachel Morgan and Hollie Reid.
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