She makes a case for the ‘embodied’ nature of emotion, but set always within an economic and social context family ties and financial resources remained important considerations for all. (1) Picking out evidence from marital litigation, criminal court records and ballads, she dissects the changing meanings of love over this time. Complementing her excellent monograph on elite marriage, in this article Barclay builds a picture of contemporary understandings of love as an emotion across social groups. Katie Barclay’s contribution is central here, and draws Scottish history into the folds of the history of emotions. This section goes some way to redressing the relative neglect of the history of the family in Scotland in comparison with research in other areas of Britain and Europe. She found that many traditional practices survived throughout the 18th century despite attempts by the Kirk to curb superstition and plans by the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow to examine and license midwives. Situating Scottish practices in a broad European context, Cameron outlines where there were parallels and where regional peculiarities existed. It opens with Anne Cameron’s detailed study of birthing customs and beliefs, gleaned from letters and diaries, medical treatise and compendia of folklore. This section is loosely structured around the lifecycle, commencing with birth, and progressing through discussions of courtship and pregnancy to roles within the family. Part one focuses on ‘Intimate lives’, a title chosen to encompass emotional history, the self, identity and the body, drawing attention to the fact that these issues were intimate rather than private. At its core is the objective of considering how this knowledge changes our view of the established accounts of Scottish society, and to explain the role of women in its development. They affirm that the gathering together of these articles marks a moment to reflect on what we have learned about Scottish women and where future research must be directed to enhance our understanding. They traverse varied and interdisciplinary territory, but Deborah Simonton and Katie Barclay’s succinct introduction weaves the strands together into a cohesive whole, presenting the book as an appreciation of the current strength of research into women’s and gender history in 18th-century Scotland. The 13 contributions are arranged into three sections on intimate, intellectual and public lives. This volume draws together a showcase of burgeoning research in this area, offering further challenges to those conventional narratives as well as a comparative body of research to add to our understandings of European women’s and gender history. The traditional accounts of this period of Scottish history gave little consideration to women – an oversight that has been challenged over the last several decades. Lady Grisell Baillie (1665–1746) graces the front cover of this volume, her poise and thoughtful, questioning expression a fitting overture for a book that is peppered with images of 18th-century Scottish women, literally making them more visible.
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