John Erskine, Earl of Mar (d.1634) banned anyone else hunting his land and was very harsh on poachers. He died after his favourite hound tripped him and broke his legs. At his funeral his chamberlain broke his neck after a hare spooked his horse.
On 19th August 1574, Edinburgh woman Jonet Cadye was put on trial for “dansing in menis clething…disagysed in welvot breikis (velvet trousers)”. The Kirk gave her 8 days probation.
Register of the General Kirk of Edinburgh. 19th August 1574. “Jonet Cadie and the Kirk”
In 1842, an Act of Parliament banned all women from working underground. Mary Bennet of Lochgelly (1821-1912) was one of the last surviving pit women in Scotland. Starting aged 12, she hauled iron ore hutches up and down a 30m pit all day for basically £10.
Dundee Evening Telegraph. Tuesday 10th December 1912. pg. 3
Christian Maclagan (1811-1901) was Scotland’s, and the UK’s 1st female archaeologist. A broch she discovered was lost for 140 years as she couldn’t join the Society of Antiquities of Scotland. It wasn’t until 1901 that Women were admitted to the society, the year she died.
Christian was the first to use stratigraphic field methods for excavation and the importance of sketching every layer of the dig. Augustus Pitt Rivers is generally given the credit, even though Maclagan published 5 years before him.
She also pioneered methods for recording and preserving stone carvings. This one is hers of a Roman stone found near Cumbernauld. She wanted it for a museum but the local laird said no. It lay on a dairy floor for months and was probably lost.
She railed against the sexism she faced from Scottish archaeologists writing: “[because I am] a woman, and therefore unworthy of being a member of any Antiquarian Society”. She sent all her work to London rather than Edinburgh because of it.
You can learn more about Maclagan from TrowelBlazers and from Stirling’s Lost Broch the team who are trying to preserve her legacy and rediscover the “broch sexism lost”.
Robert Barclay Allardice of Ury, Kincardineshire took any bet when it came to walking.
In 1809, he walked 1000 miles in 1000 hours for 1000 guineas. He stood to lose roughly £100,000 if he failed. Overall ~£5million was wagered on his race.
Field. Saturday 27th May 1854. pg. 9
Thom, W. (1813) Pedestrianism; or, An account of the performances of celebrated pedestrians during the last and present century : with a full narrative of Captain Barclay’s public and private matches; and an essay on training. D. Chalmers and Co., Aberdeen. 286pp