Divided into three sections, covering women's intimate, intellectual and public lives, this interdisciplinary volume offers articles on women's work, criminal activity, clothing, family, education, writing, travel and more. Applying tools from history, art anthropology, cultural studies, and English literature, Women in Eighteenth-Century Scotland draws on a wide-range of sources, from the written to the visual, to highlight the diversity of women's experiences and to challenge current male-centric historiographies.

Contents: Introduction, Katie Barclay and Deborah Simonton; Part I Intimate Lives: Female birthing customs and beliefs, Anne Cameron; Love and courtship in 18th-century Scotland, Katie Barclay; When a lass goes 'so round', with her 'tua sides high': oral culture and women's views on illegitimacy, Svetla Baloutzova; Family, politics and reform in Margaret Cullen's Home: a Novel (1802), Jane Rendall. Part II Intellectual Lives: The value of feminine culture: community involvement in the provision of schooling for girls in 18th-century Scotland, Lindy Moore; The depiction of literacy, schooling and education in the autobiographical writings of 18th-century Scottish women, Betty Hagglund; Making mechanics modern: Mary Somerville's translation of Laplace's Mécanique céleste, Margaret Carlyle and James Wallace; Tourist sites and travellers: women and late 18th-century Scottish tourism, Pam Perkins; Scarred, suffering bodies: 18th-century Scottish women travellers on slavery, sentiment and sensibility, Corey E. Andrews. Part III Public Lives: Women, land and power: a case for continuity, Rosalind Carr; Negotiating the economy of the 18th-century Scottish town: female entrepreneurs claim their place, Deborah Simonton; The display and trading of fashionable dress and its impact on women in Scotland's growing urban centres, c.1780-1825, Louisa Cross; 'Outrageous acts and everyday rebellions': criminal women in 18th-century Scotland, Anne-Marie Kilday; Further reading; Index.