It's St Brigid's Day on Friday so... a thread of fabliss Scots/Irish historical women. First up, Margaret Skinnider from Helensburgh, who supported the Free State by becoming a sniper under the command of Countess Marckiewicz. She smuggled detonators in her hat, Some quine. /1

This formidable Irish lass is Rachel Johnson, who was a foreman navvy in a brickworks in Glasgow. She was sworn in as a Special Constable to help police clear the riots in Partick in 1875 and dumped one guy in the Clyde cos he refused to stop struggling. I love her. /2

This is a monument near Oban to Deidre of the Sorrows - probs the best known woman in Celtic folklore. She fled Ireland to Scotland with her lover Naoise but her father caught her, killed Naoise & made her marry the King of Ulster. She killed herself, he was so awful. /3

Next medieval rebel leader Finola O'Donnell & her ma Lady Agnes Campbell. Together they waged a guerilla war against English governors in Scotland & Ireland. We forget how close the links are between the countries were in the medieval when sea travel was easier than by land. /4

Quick hiss at this guy, Irish Abbot, St Columba who came to Iona to found the Christian community & banned women & cows from the island saying 'where there is a cow there is a woman and where there is a woman there is mischief.' Boo to this. /5

My favie Scottish suffragette was Irish. Mary Maloney dogged Winston Churchill's 1908 by-election campaign in Dundee. He refused to talk about the suffrage so she said he wouldn't talk about anything then & followed him around ringing a bell to drown out his voice. Slan, Mary. /6

I could go on obv cos there are piles of women over hundreds of years. On Friday for St B's day I'll be @womenslibrary with @MargotMcCuaig @luberachi & Catriona Logan to talk about creative women and more. Tix are free. To join us go here https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/st-brigids-day-celebration-registration-89735961677

Or you know, if you just want more stories about our amazing foremothers, you could always pick up my David Hume Institute recommended book Where are the Women.So many stories... our grannies truly were the bomb. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Where-are-Women-Imagined-Scotland/dp/1849172730/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=where+are+the+women&qid=1580290362&sr=8-1