"Bessie used to wear [suffragette] colours at the end of her pigtails"
January 23, 2017 8:23 AM   Subscribe

Bessie Watson: 9-year-old, bagpipe-playing suffragette.

A little more on Bessie here. More on the 1909 protest march she took part in here (PDF).
posted by Catseye (8 comments total) 13 users marked this as a favorite
 
The first website is giving me fits. I just love the whole idea of this child!
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 10:41 AM on January 23, 2017


Thanks for this! I love it! I think Bessie's photo might find a permanent home on my wall. next to my son and nephew's first protest photos!
posted by chapps at 11:33 AM on January 23, 2017 [1 favorite]


That was indeed pretty damn cool.
posted by Samizdata at 1:02 PM on January 23, 2017


High five through history for Bessie Watson!

The biographical dictionary entry mentions that Christobel Pankhurst gave Bessie a Boadicea brooch, and Bessie later gave it to Margaret Thatcher. Wondering if I could find out more info about that specific brooch, I ended up down a rabbit hole and reading about Boadicea in the British suffragist movement and suffragette jewelry (which has a picture of a Boadicea brooch).
posted by mixedmetaphors at 1:06 PM on January 23, 2017 [1 favorite]


Don't lean on me man, because you can't afford the ticket.
posted by Sphinx at 2:21 PM on January 23, 2017 [3 favorites]


Got things to work. Absolutely marvelous story.!i am going to start deliberately wearing Suffregette colors.
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 3:51 PM on January 23, 2017


Wow! So this happens to tie very closely to a project I'm working on to improve documentation about musical instruments held in public UK collections, and knowledge about their importance to the national cultural heritage.

One of my colleagues has been helping to document the collection at the College of Piping. Lo and behold, he ran into a bagpipe chanter referring to a 'Bessie Watson' from the early 20th century, which he thought was unusual. After looking up the name he ran into the same story.

Here is the chanter. If you look closely at the engraving it reads: PRESENTED TO / MISS BESSIE WATSON / BY THE RECRUITING STAFF / AS A MEMENTO OF THE RECRUITING CAMPAIGN / IN EDINBURGH 1915-16.

I would love to know if the recruiting campaign refers specifically to the suffragette movement, perhaps my colleague can provide more info, but it's nice to know there's a physical link to Bessie out there!
posted by TheWaves at 1:57 AM on January 24, 2017 [1 favorite]


"give us the vote or I keep playing"
posted by bracems at 1:43 PM on January 24, 2017


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