Main content

Bad Husbands and Scottish Songs

Susan Morrison finds out about an overlooked female Jacobite song writer, the husband who accused his wife of witchcraft, and ‘refined cruelty’ in Victorian marriage.

Susan Morrison chats to Dr Nicky Small of the Perthshire duo Plaidsong who combines being a Jacobite historian with singing Jacobite songs. You’ve probably heard of songs like Land o the Leal, Will Ye No Come Back Again, Wi' a hundred pipers an' a', but you maybe don’t know the name Carolina Lady Nairne. Nicky sings her songs and tells her story. Then it’s off to the 17th century and the time of the witchhunts - Ciaran Jones of Edinburgh University opens up the strange Fife witch case where a husband accused his own wife and begged her to confess to being a witch. Moving into the later 19th century, Ashley Dee of the Open University introduces Susan to ‘refined cruelty’ the Victorian equivalent of domestic abuse by coercive control and the horrifying stories behind it.

Available now

29 minutes

Last on

Sun 23 Oct 2022 06:30

Broadcasts

  • Sun 28 Jun 2020 07:00
  • Sun 28 Jun 2020 15:00
  • Sat 22 Oct 2022 18:00
  • Sun 23 Oct 2022 06:30

Podcast