Wendy Wood, born Gwendoline Emily Meacham, (29 October 1892 – 30 June 1981) was a campaigner for
Scottish independence
Scottish independence ( gd, Neo-eisimeileachd na h-Alba; sco, Scots unthirldom) is the idea of Scotland as a sovereign state, independent from the United Kingdom, and refers to the political movement that is campaigning to bring it about.
S ...
. An eccentric and colourful figure, she was also a gifted artist, sculptor and writer, and her theatrical political activism often created controversy.
Biography
Wood was born in
Maidstone
Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the c ...
in
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
, England, before her parents moved to South Africa, where her father was a brewery manager and landscape painter, and was brought up over there. Wood adopted her mother's maiden name in 1927 to emphasise her artistic connections. Her maternal grandfather was the sculptor
Samuel Peploe Wood
Samuel Peploe Wood (17 February 1827 – 30 July 1873) was an English sculptor and painter. His sculpture can be seen on many churches and public buildings in England, and there are a number of his sketches and watercolours at Staffordshire Co ...
, and her great-uncle was the painter
Thomas Peploe Wood. If challenged as to her Scottish birthright, she would reply, "One does not have to be a horse to be born in a stable", echoing the old proverb that is sometimes misattributed to the
Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of ...
, albeit for a different purpose.
In 1928, Wood was one of the founders of the
National Party of Scotland
The National Party of Scotland (NPS) was a centre-left political party in Scotland which was one of the predecessors of the current Scottish National Party (SNP). The NPS was the first Scottish nationalist political party, and the first which c ...
, which grew into the
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...
, but, in the 1930s, decided that a non-party approach to
Scottish independence
Scottish independence ( gd, Neo-eisimeileachd na h-Alba; sco, Scots unthirldom) is the idea of Scotland as a sovereign state, independent from the United Kingdom, and refers to the political movement that is campaigning to bring it about.
S ...
was more effective. On
Bannockburn Day in 1932, Wood led a group of nationalists into
Stirling Castle
Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most important castles in Scotland, both historically and architecturally. The castle sits atop Castle Hill, an intrusive crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill geological ...
, then an Army barracks as well as being open to tourists; to tear down the
Union Flag
The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...
and replace it with Scotland's
lion rampant
The lion is a common charge in heraldry. It traditionally symbolises courage, nobility, royalty, strength, stateliness and valour, because historically the lion has been regarded as the "king of beasts". The lion also carries Judeo-Chr ...
.
Eric Linklater
Eric Robert Russell Linklater CBE (8 March 1899 – 7 November 1974) was a Welsh-born Scottish poet, fiction writer, military historian, and travel writer. For ''The Wind on the Moon'', a children's fantasy novel, he won the 1944 Carnegie Meda ...
wrote that she flushed the Union Jack down the toilet, and she sued him for libel, eventually settling out of court for a farthing damages.
In the 1930s, Wood also founded the Scottish Watch, a youth organisation (not to be confused with a later, unrelated extremist organisation of the same name). In 1949, she had founded the Scottish Patriots, which, at the time of her death in June 1981, were some 2,000 strong.
In the 1950s, came protests against the use of the
regnal title
A regnal title is the title held by a monarch while in office. Monarchs can have various titles, including king or queen, prince or princess (Sovereign Prince of Monaco), emperor or empress (Emperor of Japan, Emperor of India), or even duke or gran ...
"
Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...
" in Scotland, as Scotland had not had an
Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen".
El ...
(see also the case of ''
MacCormick v. Lord Advocate''). Wood hung an effigy of the Secretary of State for Scotland in Glasgow in 1950 and displayed a Home Rule banner at that year's Highland Games.
Wood was arrested and spent spells in prison on several occasions.
From 1956, Wood shared an artist's studio and house with her partner,
Florence St John Cadell
Florence St John Cadell (14 August 1877, Cheltenham – 30 January 1966, Edinburgh) was a Scottish artist and patriot, involved in the early days of the Scottish National Party with her friend Wendy Wood. Her artworks are usually signed S ...
at Whinmill Brae in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
. The house is now split in two and addressed as 17 and 18 Coltbridge Gardens. Wood's portrait by Florence St John Cadell is held by the
Scottish National Portrait Gallery
The Scottish National Portrait Gallery is an art museum on Queen Street, Edinburgh. The gallery holds the national collections of portraits, all of which are of, but not necessarily by, Scots. It also holds the Scottish National Photography Co ...
.
![The studio at Whinmill Brae, Edinburgh](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/The_studio_at_Whinmill_Brae%2C_Edinburgh.jpg)
In 1960, Wood spoke at the
General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the sovereign and highest court of the Church of Scotland, and is thus the Church's governing body.''An Introduction to Practice and Procedure in the Church of Scotland'' by A. Gordon McGillivray ...
, to try to mobilise them behind the re-convening of the
Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyro ...
, which she asserted had not been properly dissolved in 1707, merely adjourned. This request was turned down.
Wood engaged in many international campaigns, for Irish causes, to the remembrance of the British
concentration camps
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...
during the
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...
which killed thousands, to supporting the
Indian independence movement
The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947.
The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...
and supporting the
Icelandic people
Icelanders ( is, Íslendingar) are a North Germanic ethnic group and nation who are native to the island country of Iceland and speak Icelandic.
Icelanders established the country of Iceland in mid 930 AD when the Althing (Parliament) met for ...
in their 1970s
cod war
The Cod Wars ( is, Þorskastríðin; also known as , ; german: Kabeljaukriege) were a series of 20th-century confrontations between the United Kingdom (with aid from West Germany) and Iceland about fishing rights in the North Atlantic. Each o ...
over fishing grounds.
In 1972, came Wood's
hunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...
for
home rule
Home rule is government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governance wit ...
, which effectively failed, but in 1979, Scots were given a
referendum
A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
on the matter.
In the early-1970s Wood often read Scottish stories on the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
'' under the name Auntie Gwen. Having spent over a decade as a crofter in
(moving to Edinburgh in 1952) she had a wide span of experience to call upon. In all she wrote ten books, the last being her autobiography, ''Yours Sincerely for Scotland''. Later in the 1970s, she unsuccessfully stood as a candidate in an election to be
with the support of the University's Scottish Nationalist Association.
Wood remained active into her late-eighties. She died in Edinburgh on 30 June 1981, aged 88.
in 2021. It lies near the north parapet wall on Waterloo Place.
. She was also the sister-in-law of the Egyptologist
.