General, Women's History

Wicked Women of Eighteenth-century Aberdeen

The eighteenth century is generally characterised by a sense of improvement and need for politeness, both physically and mentally. Accordingly, major improvements to architecture and infrastructure marked eighteenth-century society. Local pride and an active sense of civic identity came to characterise many cities in eighteenth-century Scotland. The inhabitants of Aberdeen, among others, were proud of their metropolitan status: ‘In the 1790s, when Edinburgh was being graciously extended and rebuilt to much public admiration, the town council and citizens of Aberdeen determined also to give their city a new “modern”, and improved physical setting’, which included programmes of cleaning, water systems and lighting. Additionally, the council decided to lay out ten new straight streets and even ensured that farmers came in to town to remove the manure from the streets to keep them clean.

Along with improving the physical setting of Aberdeen, there was a desire to improve the behaviour of the inhabitants as they collectively influenced the city’s reputation. One of the council’s early attempts to improve the inhabitants’ manners is recorded in the Extracts from the Council Register in Aberdeen. On 16 March 1642,

the provost, baillies, and council considering that there are diverse Acts of Parliament made against blasphemies of Gods holy name, containing as well pequnial as bodily punishments to be inflicted upon those that shall be noted and herd banning and swearing  … ordains that every master and mistress of any family within this burgh as often as any of them happens to be found banning or swearing any sort of oath, shall pay eight pence to the use of the poor, and every servant four pennies,  … and a box to be in every family for this effect.

Interestingly, the council clearly had faith that the general population was in support of improving the language and behaviour in society, otherwise such an act, which was to be enforced within the privacy of households, would have had little effect.

Aberdeen town council was particularly concerned with controlling women’s public behaviour and, especially their sexuality, in order to create an orderly society. This attitude meant residents often complained to the Council about women whose dealings were considered unsavoury; the Council then took action. Take for example Fanny Hall, who on 5 September 1757, was ‘complained upon several times for haunting loose and disorderly company [and for] disturbing the neighbourhood where she resided at unreasonable hours in the night-time’. At the court session in the spring of 1758, she was whipped and then banished from the town. Due to the ideals of eighteenth-century society, moral or behavioural crimes were among the most common crimes. Proportionately, women appear more often in the court records for ‘keeping disorderly company’ or for ‘being persons of bad fame and character’ than for any other offence. For example, in 1758 alone, 18 out of the 29 women who are recorded in the Aberdeen enactment books were convicted of misdemeanours. The council tried to suppress misdemeanours, which were believed to be character flaws, by shaming and banishing women who displayed such behaviour.

In addition to ‘haunting’ the company of soldiers and behaving indecently, some women also took to drinking. Being drunk in public was punished with whipping, as was the case of one young woman, recorded in the Aberdeen Black Kalendar, who was ‘whipped for intoxication and bad behaviour in the streets’. It was inexcusable for a woman to haunt the company of soldiers and other bad company, but it was even worse if she allowed herself to become intoxicated and, in doing so, behave like a man.

Women were not permitted to encroach on masculinity. They were expected to recognise their proper place in submission to men. When women broke the unspoken rules of gender and acted mannishly or aggressively, which was completely opposed to the ideals for the fairer sex, they were shown no leniency. A case which demonstrates this very clearly is that of Isobel Mulligan. On 5 June 1763, she ‘had dressed herself in sailors clothes and gone to Captain Robert Bruce, then enlisting men for the navy, and offered herself for the service in order to obtain the bounty, having professed an enthusiastic desire to serve her King and country’.  The imposter was detected. ‘When brought before the Baillie, the woman admitted that having drunk ‘some beer’ she had been induced by the persuasion of another woman to go and endeavour to play off this trick on Captain Bruce’. At the court session, she was banished from the Burgh for seven years as punishment.

The records unfortunately do not hold the answer as to why women were charged more often with moral offences. It may be linked to the gendered view of women being temptresses and therefore more culpable, or it could be that status played a part. Some men may have been able to bribe the baillies [bailiffs] to be exempt from appearing in court. The fact that many women were discovered only when an unwanted pregnancy became evident was also relevant. When these women appeared before the courts, they were encouraged to name the man they had had ‘immoral’ intercourse with, but often such charges could not be confirmed unless the man admitted to the sin. The woman could not deny her sin because of her obvious physical state, but the man was often excused based on lack of evidence. Whatever the reasons, control of morality and social order were central to the policing strategies of Aberdeen town officials. Thus women who acted outside the newer norms of a more polite society came under scrutiny for activities which might not have drawn the same sort of attention previously.

Theresa Irina Svane Jepsen studies Scottish women’s urban roles at the University of Southern Denmark. You can read the rest of her article above in the summer edition of the Women’s History Magazine!

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