What role did women play in Jacobite rebellion?

MUCH has been written about the famous Jacobite soldiers who fought to get the Stewarts back on the British throne, but what about the women who risked their lives for the rebellion cause.

Damn Rebel Bitches examines the role of women in the '45 rebellion

One Scottish writer will speak about the heroics of the females who also rallied towards the long fight, which saw two uprisings before the fateful Battle of Culloden – the scene of her talk.

Author Maggie Craig wrote the book ‘Damn Rebel Bitches: The Women of the ‘45’.

She will be speaking at the National Trust for Scotland Visitor Centre on Culloden Moor on Saturday.

Author Maggie Craig

Maggie will be talking about the women she researched and wrote about in her ground-breaking and acclaimed non-fiction book, described as a modern classic.

She said: “Damn Rebel Bitches: The Women of the ’45, was a labour of love born out of my passion for the past, historical truth and the Jacobites of 1745.

“With no disrespect to Flora MacDonald, I knew there were many other brave women who risked their lives and safety to play their parts in the ’45.

“They gave money and hospitality, acted as spies and raised men for the Jacobite Army. They tended the wounded and hid fugitives from the Redcoats.

Author Maggie Craig

“Damn’ Rebel Bitches was first published 19 years ago and has never been out of print since.

“I’m delighted that it’s continuing to attract new readers. I’ve had a lot of interest on social media worldwide from fans of the phenomenally successfully Outlander books and TV series created by US author Diana Gabaldon.

“There’s also so much interest now in women’s history and Scottish history in general.”

The event at Culloden Visitor Centre will also include a workshop on how to knit a sock, 18th century style, from Catherine Sclater.

Outlander herbalist Claire MacKay will be holding a drop-in session in the afternoon showcasing the healing herbs used at the time.

Maggie Craig is a Glaswegian who now lives in her mother’s native Aberdeenshire.

She is a well-published novelist and writer of non-fiction and has served two terms on the committee of the Society of Authors in Scotland.

She is a popular speaker around Scotland’s libraries and book festivals. Her latest novel is Gathering Storm, a tale of Jacobite intrigue and romance set in the tense Edinburgh of 1743.

Her next book is a biography: Henrietta Tayler, Scottish Jacobite Historian and First World War Nurse.

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