Time Travels

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BBC Radio Shetland

Factual: History

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Susan Morrison explores the rich and sometimes murky depths of Scotland's past.

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BBC Radio Scotland Extra

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Time Travels: Single Mums and Teen Brides

Single Mums and Teen Brides

BBC Radio Scotland - Time Travels, Single Mums and Teen Brides

A war widow after Flodden plus shotgun weddings in the 1970s

An Edinburgh war widow faces harsh realities after Flodden, and the plight of teen brides in 1970s Scotland - with Susan Morrison

Alison Rough was a 16th century Edinburgh war widow  - her husband was killed at Flodden and she was left raising a family on her own - which she did in her own feisty and formidable manner - often with the cards stacked against her. Professor Elizabeth Ewan formerly of the University of Guelph takes presenter Susan Morrison into Alison’s world. Raising a family on your own was tough in the 16th century but even as late as the 1970s in Scotland for single mums who refused marriage it was well-nigh unthinkable  -  they found stigma rather than respect. The result was that many young women got caught up in ‘shotgun weddings’ more in Scotland than in England and Wales. Oral historian Kristin Hay of Strathclyde University explores why.

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