Mary Brooksbank
Mary Brooksbank | |
|---|---|
| Born | Mary Soutar[1] 15 December 1897[1] |
| Died | 16 March 1978 (aged 80)[1] |
| Nationality | Scottish[1] |
| Occupation(s) | Mill worker, songwriter[1] |
| Known for | Socialist activism, trade unionism and songwriting[1] |
Mary Brooksbank (born Soutar; 15 December 1897 – 16 March 1978) was a Scottish mill worker, socialist, trade unionist and songwriter.[1] She was an active member of the Communist Party of Great Britain between 1920 and 1933, and spent three periods in prison as a result of her agitation.[1][2] She attended John Maclean's last meetings at the Scottish Labour College.[1][2][3]
She is remembered today as a prominent figure in Dundee's labour movement.[1] She founded the Working Women Guild to fight for better health and social services in Dundee, securing a membership of over 300, and was heavily involved in October 1934 with the National Unemployed Workers Movement county march to Forfar, to lobby the County Council; contingents were raised from Dundee, Blairgowrie, Montrose, Ferryden and Arbroath.[1][4]
Early life
[edit]Mary Brooksbank was born in an Aberdeen slum, the oldest of either five or ten children, and came to Dundee when she was eight or nine years old.[2][4][5] She began working illegally in Dundee's jute mills as a bobbin shifter by the age of 12, and had her first experience of trade unionism at the age of 14, when the girls at her jute mill successfully marched for a 15% pay rise.[5][6]
Mary's father, Sandy Soutar (who died in 1953, aged 86), was from St Vigeans, Arbroath, and had been an active trade unionist amongst the dock workers, working with James Connolly.[1][2] Her mother, Rose Ann Soutar, née Gillan, was a fisher lassie and domestic servant.[1][2] It is said that the Soutar family was "effectively blacklisted in Dundee because of their trade union activities".[5]
Political life
[edit]At 21, Brooksbank rejected Roman Catholicism, became an atheist and was inspired by John McLean to join the Communist Party to fight for women's rights, equality, and the demise of capitalism.[2] She is quoted as saying:[5]
- “I have never had any personal ambitions. I have but one: to make my contribution to destroy the capitalist system.”
She was expelled from the Communist Party in 1933 as she was critical of Stalin, and became more sympathetic to Scottish nationalism.[1] John Maclean, whose classes she attended in Glasgow, was a major proponent of an independent "Scottish workers' republic".
She continued to be politically active to the end of her life, in campaigning for better housing and for pensioners' rights.[2]
Music
[edit]Family sing-a-longs nurtured Brooksbank's love of music.[citation needed] She sang, played the violin and wrote songs.[1] When money was low, she took the ferry from Dundee to Tayport and sang for money in the street.[1] In the 1960s and 1970s she sang on radio and television.[1]
Most of her songs were about the life of the working-class mill workers of Dundee, mostly women.[1] She called these songs "Mill Songs". They were full of detail and sympathy for the struggle in which these hard-working, poorly paid women were engaged to feed and care for their families.[7]
Her most famous song was "Jute Mill Song" or "Oh Dear Me".:[1][8]
- Jute Mill Song (Mary Brooksbank)
- Oh dear me, the mill's gannin' fast
- The puir wee shifters canna get a rest
- Shiftin' bobbins coorse and fine
- They fairly mak' ye work for your ten and nine
- Oh dear me, I wish the day was done
- Rinnin' up and doon the Pass it is nae fun
- Shiftin', piecin', spinnin' warp weft and twine
- Tae feed and clad my bairnie affen ten and nine
- Oh dear me, the warld is ill divided
- Them that works the hardest are the least provided
- I maun bide contented, dark days or fine
- For there's nae much pleasure livin' affen ten and nine
- Repeat 1
You can hear it sung by Brookshanks and later folksingers at the Scots Language Centre: Scotslanguage.com - Work Songs.
Her original notebook of songs and poems is part of the Kinnear Collection held by the archives at the University of Dundee.[9] The same institution also holds a collection of her papers.[10] Ewan MacColl recorded some of her songs.[1]
Death
[edit]Brooksbank died at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee on 16 March 1978.[1] A library in Dundee was named in her honour.[1][2][3] When the library was closed, the Brooksbank Centre on Pitairlie Road was named after her.[4] A verse from her Jute Mill Song is inscribed in Iona marble on the Scottish Parliament Building's Canongate Wall, which displays quotations from Scottish writers and poets.[11]
Commemoration
[edit]A rearrangement of the Jute Mill Song or Oh Dear Me was created by the American artists Brian House and Sue Huang of collaborative Knifeandfork for a performance installation at West Ward Works and Verdant Works in 2016 for the NEoN Digital Arts Festival.[12]
In 2022, to mark the 125th anniversary of her birth, the Abertay Historical Society published a collection of essays celebrating her life and work.[13][14]
In September 2023, Knights Theatre held a celebration event “Oh Dear Me: The Inspirational Mary Brooksbank” at Dundee Fringe and a creative writing workshop at Verdant Works Museum. [15]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Smith, Graham (23 September 2004). "Brooksbank [née Soutar], Mary Watson (1897–1978), revolutionary and songwriter". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/54394. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. Retrieved 27 December 2020. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ a b c d e f g h Chris Bambery (2014). A People's History of Scotland. Verso Books. pp. 240–. ISBN 978-1-78168-284-5. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
- ^ a b "Mary Brooksbank - Revolutionary, Poet and Songwriter". Alternative Perth. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
- ^ a b c Stevenson, Graham. "Brooksbank Mary". Retrieved 1 September 2014.
- ^ a b c d "Mary Brooksbank". Dundee Women's Trail. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
- ^ Knox, William (2006). Lives of Scottish women. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. pp. 205. ISBN 9780748617883.
- ^ The Dundee Women’s Trail celebrates just a few amazing women whose lives touched this city. Dundee Women's Trail: 25 Footsteps over 4 Centuries, Mary Henderson, www.dundeewomenstrail.org.uk 2008.
- ^ Scots Language Centre
- ^ "Item MS 103/3/6/1 - 'Poems and Songs'". University of Dundee Archive Catalogue. University of Dundee. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
- ^ "Collection MS 442 - Mary Brooksbank". University of Dundee Archive Catalogue. University of Dundee. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
- ^ "Canongate Wall quotations". www.parliament.scot. 30 December 2019.[dead link]
- ^ "Knifeandfork fuse music and technology at NEoN Digital Arts Festival". northeastofnorth.com. 2 February 2017. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
- ^ Farley, Erin; Tolland, Siobhan, eds. (2022). In One Woman’s Life – Celebrating Mary Brooksbank. Dundee: Abertay Historical Society. ISBN 978-0-900019-64-7.
- ^ Ritchie, Gayle (15 December 2022). "Mary Brooksbank: Political firebrand-turned-songwriter from Aberdeen on a mission to destroy the capitalist system". The Press and Journal. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
- ^ "HOME". KNIGHTS THEATRE.
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