March, with its promise of growth and rebirth, is exactly the right time for National Women’s History Month and the celebration of International Women’s Day this week on March 8th. We genealogists know how difficult it often is to learn more about our female ancestors, largely because for most of recorded history, they were treated as second-class citizens. Historically, women have lost their maiden names when they marry; they have usually not been heads of household; they have been under-educated and undervalued, all leading to their “disappearance” from public records. As far back as 400 years B.C., the Greek statesman Pericles stated, “A woman’s greatest glory is to be little talked about, whether for good or ill.” That mindset persisted for centuries.
However, there are innumerable women who defied society's expectations of them, and we hope that by learning about some of them, you will be inspired to find out more about your own female ancestors. Previously, we introduced our readers to a “pirate queen,” Grace O’Malley, who lived in western Ireland in the mid-sixteenth century. (You can read about Grace here.) This week, let us introduce you to another amazing woman, this time from Scotland about two hundred years earlier, and just one example of countless strong, brave, and clever women that are part of our history.
Meet Lady Agnes Randolph, AKA Black Agnes
Lady Agnes Randolph, Countess of Moray, born in 1312 in Scotland, was the great-niece of the famed Robert the Bruce. She was called “Black Agnes” due to her dark hair and what was described as a “dusky” complexion. Her father, Thomas Randolph, was an earl, and, as expected of a noble woman, she married young to another earl, Patrick Dunbar. The family home was Dunbar Castle, today a ruin but then a major part of the defenses on Scotland’s southeast coast. The English plagued the Scots at this time, and Patrick Dunbar was called out to fight, leaving Agnes, who was just twenty-six years old, and a handful of servants to guard their home.
The English king, Edward III, sent the Earl of Salisbury to Dunbar in January 1338, thinking that the lady of the house would just surrender without her husband to protect her. But Agnes had other ideas. She refused to surrender to Salisbury, leading to months of frustration and ultimately his defeat. Salisbury began by instructing his army to aim their catapults at the castle and bombard it with lead and rocks.
Undaunted, Agnes and her maids cleaned up the mess, making a show of dusting the walls with white handkerchiefs and saving the debris in neat piles. Salisbury ordered his men to force what he assumed would be a surrender using a huge battering ram called a "sow" on the castle walls. He gave orders for this giant machine to be rolled up to the castle gate, and just as the unsuspecting Englishmen inched close enough, Agnes and her household staff proceeded to bombard the invaders with the very boulders they had hurled at the castle not long before.
Agnes and her small group of defenders continued to hold out the castle despite several more ill-conceived attempts by the English to take it. She arranged for food and other supplies to be delivered via a secret entrance, taunting the English army as their own supplies dwindled. Finally, exasperated, Salisbury captured Agnes’s brother John and threatened to hang him if Agnes didn’t hand over the castle. Cleverly, Agnes responded by telling Salisbury that it was fine with her if John died because he had no heirs, so Agnes would inherit all his lands and his titles upon his death.
This battle of wits went on for five long months before Salisbury and his men finally accepted a truce and left Agnes in peace, but not before composing this verse:
She kept a stir in tower and trench
That brawling, boisterous Scottish wench,
Came I early, came I late
I found Agnes at the gate.
This “boisterous Scottish wench,” unwavering and persistent in defiance of an English army, is remembered for shattering the stereotype firmly entrenched at the time and clearly shows us what many of us already know; our female ancestors are truly worth learning more about.
You Can Honor Your Female Ancestors Too!
During this month and all year as we continue to research, let’s honor the women in our families by capturing their stories and sharing them so they will not be forgotten. Not only will your family appreciate knowing about these women, but you can spread the word about their achievements by writing an article for our StLGS Quarterly and/or for our St. Louis City/County Biographies Project.
To submit articles for our Quarterly, learn more on the Quarterly page on our website.
Directions for submitting a biography for the St. Louis City/County Biographies Project are also on our website.
Read more about Agnes:
“Agnes Randolph of Dunbar,” Undiscovered Scotland, 2024 https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/usbiography/r/agnesrandolphdunbar.html
“Black Agnes” by Ben Johnson, Historic UK, https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofScotland/Black-Agnes/
“That brawling, boisterous Scottish wench,” by Annette Harrower-Gray, Scotland Magazine, issue 43, May 2009, pgs. 22–24.
And discover a few other women closer to home:
The New York Historical Society Museum and Library has posted an abridged version of We Rise, narrated by Meryl Streep, focusing on four twentieth-century female advocates for societal change:
- Lillian Wald, a nurse and public health worker
- Addie Hunton, a leader in fighting for equal rights for African Americans
- Clara Lemlich, an early organizer of workers to strike for better working conditions
- Francis Perkins, who worked with government leaders to pass laws ensuring the safety of factory workers.
The YouTube recording of the abridged version of We Rise is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmjCMJ-nMVc
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