Book review: Scotland - Her Story, by Rosemary Goring

The sub-title of this splendid book is “The Nation’s History By The Women Who Lived It.” The key word there is of course “lived.” While it all depends on what you mean by “history,” Rosemary Goring is far too scrupulous an editor and anthologist to have preferred the word “made” to “lived.” One couldn’t however complain if she had chosen to say “endured” rather than “lived.” Though there are plenty of remarkable and strong-minded women featured here, such as the 18th century “virago” Lady Bridekirk who “was famous, even in the Annandale border, both at the bowl and in battle” and “could drink a Scots pint of brandy with ease” (a Scots pint being three imperial pints), it’s still the case that till very recently women took second place in history. Indeed, so long as the history taught in schools and universities was political, constitutional, military and ecclesiastical, women rarely played a prominent part. History was something that happened to them.