Women of the Highlands by Katharine Stewart sampler

early women – celtic times
ruddy complexion, terrible from the sternness of their eyes,
very quarrelsome and of great pride and insolence. A
whole troop of foreigners would not be able to withstand
a single Gaul if he called his wife to his assistance, who is
usually very strong and with blue eyes; especially when,
stretching her neck, gnashing her teeth and brandishing
her sallow arms of enormous size, she begins to strike
blows mingled with kicks, as if they were so many missiles
sent from the string of a catapult. The voices of these
women are formidable and threatening, even when they
are not angry but being friendly. But all the Celtic women
with equal care keep neat and clean and in some areas no
woman can be seen, be she never so poor, in soiled or
ragged clothing.
Later, in 697 ad, Adamnan, Abbot of Iona, in his ‘Laws of the
Innocents’ was to advocate exemption from military activity for
women and to pass Acts raising their status by imposing stiff
penalties for assaults. Children were also to be protected.
Scáthach
Scáthach, a woman warrior, ran a martial arts academy in Skye.
Whether or not she is the stuff of legend, someone of her ilk must
surely have existed. Her castle of Sgiathanach later became a
Macleod stronghold and can still be seen and the ruins visited.
Boudicca
One woman warrior of whose existence we are sure is Boudicca
of the Iceni tribe in Britain, who lived in the 1st century ad. Tacitus,
the Roman historian, quotes her as saying:
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