They are already inscribed with words from the Bible, Sir Walter Scott, Andrew Carnegie and Charles Rennie Mackintosh. But until now the walls of the Scottish Parliament have never featured a quote from a woman.
But the imbalance is to be corrected with a new quotation carved into the Canongate facade.
The verse, from Oh Dear Me (The Jute Mill Song), was written by Mary Brooksbank, a Communist songwriter from Dundee who was imprisoned for her protests in the 1930s.
It runs: “Oh dear me, the world’s ill-divided/Them that work the hardest, are wi the least provided/But I maun bide contented, dark days or fine/But there’s no much pleasure livin affen ten & nine”
A competition to find new quotations for the parliament was launched in March by presiding officer Alex Fergusson as part of a series of events to mark 10 years of devolution.
At the time, the intention was to choose a single quotation to add to the 24 quotes already inscribed on the Canongate.
However the judging panel decided to choose two instead, to ensure that one was the work of a woman.
The other quote comes from Norman MacCaig’s poem “A Man in Assynt”.
More than one verse from the poem was suggested, but the one chosen was: “Who possesses this landscape? /The man who bought it or/I who am possessed by it?/False questions, for/this landscape is/masterless/and intractable in any terms/that are human.”
The winning quotations are due to be announced by the parliament this week, and unveiled in December.
Most of the unsuccessful suggestions were from poets, including Liz Lochhead, Robert Burns, Jackie Kay, Seamus Heaney, and Carol Ann Duffy, the Poet Laureate.
Also left on the reject pile were Mary Queen of Scots, Bob Dylan, Dougie McLean’s Caledonia, and Derek Dick, the ex-Marillion singer known as Fish.
Mary Brooksbank began work in one of Dundee’s jute mills in 1912 at the age of 14, processing the raw fibre for rope.
She described the life of the workers there as “a living hell of hard work and poverty”, with women ending 10-hour shifts only to start the family washing.
After joining the Communist Party of Great Britain in 1920, she spent several spells in prison for her activity.
She was charged with rioting in 1931, and twice stood as a Communist candidate in Dundee.
She also began writing poetry and lyrics in the 1930s, although she was not published until 1966.
Some of her songs, which dealt with life in the mills, politics, history and women, were later recorded by the famous folk musician Ewan McColl.
She was nominated by Nanette Milne, the Tory MSP for North East Scotland.
Her words will now join those of 16 other named authors who appear on the wall alongside a selection of anonymous proverbs in English and Gaelic and words from the Psalms.
The most frequently quoted person to date is poet Hugh MacDiarmid, with three items, followed by Robert Burns with selections from To a Louse and A Man’s A Man for A’ That.
One of the most popular quotations is from the contemporary novelist, Alasdair Gray: “Work as if you live in the early days of a better nation.”
Gray said he was pleased a female author had been added, but said it should have been someone living.
“There’s more than one woman poet working in Scotland. There’s Liz Lochhead and others. I think it would be good to get someone contemporary,” he said.
“You’re quite safe when somebody’s dead and folky.”
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