17/09/2008 06:01:00
A tribute dedicated to women of the Jacobite rising of 1745 is set to take place later this month in Culloden, near Inverness.
The National Trust for Scotland event will be the first of its kind to focus solely on women. It will involve exploration into the lives of women in the Jacobite movement, which was a political movement that supported the restoration of the House of Stuart to the British throne.
It will involve an exhibition entitled Strong Women - A Tribute to Heroines at the Culloden Battlefield Visitor Centre on September 27 and 28. Glasgow-born author Maggie Craig will also give a talk about researching her acclaimed book, Damn Rebel Bitches.
As part of the research, Ms Craig studied records and letters from the 18th century. She told the BBC: "The research was quite difficult. I had to look for the men and then the women attached to them."
She discovered that women played a much more significant part in the Jacobite cause than presumed, learning that women undertook key parts in raising men to undertake strong roles in the movement and even going on to the Culloden battlefield to tend to injured and dying men.
The learning manager at the Culloden Battlefield Visitor Centre revealed that other events would look at women and the government, where some women undertook spy duties that put their lives at risk.
She added that the tribute's intention was part of an ongoing process that will help recognise the roles women had during the Jacobite movement.