F. Marian McNeill

Florence Marian McNeill, MBE (26 March 1885 – 22 Februar 1973) wis a Scots folklorist, author, editor, suffragist an political activist. She is maist kent for her wark,The Silver Bough (no to be confused wi The Golden Bough), a fower-pairt quair of Scots folklore as weel as The Scots Kitchen an Scots Cellar: Its Traditions and Lore with Old-time Recipes.

F. Marian McNeill MBE
Born	26 Mairch 1885(1885-03-26) Holm, Orkney
Dee'd	22 Februar 1973(1973-02-22) (aged 87) Edinburgh, Scotland
Thrift	author, suffragette
Naitionality	Scottish
Alma mater	University of Glasgow
Subject	folklore, cookery
Notable warks	The Silver Bough The Scots Kitchen

Biography

McNeill wis born in Holm, Orkney on 26 March 1885 tae Jessie Janet Dewar an the Reverend Daniel McNeill, a minister o the Free Kirk in Orkney. Dewar wis umwhile frae Fochabers, an Rev. McNeill wis frae Argyll, an wis minister o Holm for naurhaund fifty year. Marian wis the aicht o twalve bairns, an wis cried "Floss" bi her faimily an friends. She wis educate at Kirkwall Burgh Schule, whaur she wis friends wi the makar Edwin Muir. In 1912 she wis graduate frae the Varsity o Glasgow wi an MA an syne for ane year taucht Inglis in Fraunce an Germany. In 1913 McNeill cam back tae the UK tae wirk as an organiser for the Scottish Federation o Women's Suffrage Societies, an syne as secretar for the Association for Moral and Social Hygiene in Lunnon whaur she steyed til 1917. Efter the end o Warld War I, she bade a while in Greece. She flittit back tae Edinburgh tae yoke til wark on the Scottish National Dictionary, an bi 1929 she wis the heid assistant on the project.

In the years atween the First an Seicont Warld Wars she became pairt o the revival o Scots literatur an cultur kent as the Scottish Renaissance. She is weel-kent as the author o The Scots Kitchen, furthset in 1929. This braid wark trokes wi ilka sindry pairt o Scotland's culinar heritage, ian haes mony historical an literar references. Receipts include Forfar bridies, Cock-a-leekie soup an porridge.

She wis ane o the founder members o the Scottish National Party, an syne, wis the Pairty Vice-preses.

In 1932, she wrote her anely novelle, The Road Home.

Frae 1957 an ayont she set furth a fower-pairt quair o Scotland's National Festivals cried The Silver Bough (the name gied mense tae James Frazer's wark The Golden Bough). This kist o the riches o Scots folklore an freits troked wi baith the muckle national festivals as weel as mony local anes an wis the eftercast o McNeill's life's darg. In 2008 British Youth Music Theatre pit the wark intil a stage production at the Aiberdeen International Youth Festival. Scots composer Gerard McBurney wirkt wi the makar Iain Finlay Macleod, director Kath Burlinson an choreographer Struan Leslie tae pit it aathegither.

In 1962 McNeill wis gien mense wi a MBE for services tae Scots cultur. She dee'd in Edinburgh on 22 Februar 1973.

Furthset warks

• McNeill, F. Marian (1957–1968). The Silver Bough: a Four Volume Study of the National and Local Festivals of Scotland, Vol. 1-4. William MacLellan, Glasgow. Paperback edition, ISBN 0-86241-231-5
  • Volume I Scottish Folk-Lore and Folk-Belief
  • Volume II A Calendar of Scottish National Festivals, Candlemas to Harvest Home
  • Volume III A Calendar of Scottish National Festivals, Halloween to Yule
  • Volume IV the Local Festivals of Scotland
• Iona: A History of the Island. Hardback Blackie & Son. 1st Edition 1920, 2nd Edition 1935, 3rd Edition 1946, Later updates ISBN 9780216893245
• With F J Wakefield An Inquiry in Ten Towns in England and Wales into the Protection of Minor Girls (1916)
• The Road Home (1932)

Cookery buiks

• The Scots Kitchen. Paperback: 259 pages Mercat Press; New edition (25 Oct 2004) ISBN 1-84183-070-4
• The Book of Breakfasts (1932)
• Recommended Recipes (1948)
• The Scots Cellar, Its Traditions and Lore (1956)

Ither airtins

• F McNeill on About Orkney
• Saltire society page Archived 2020-11-08 at the Wayback Machine