In 1637 there was a riot in St Giles’ Kirk. When Dean James Hannay began to read from the English style prayer book lJenny Geddes hurled her creepie stool at his head shouting, ‘Dinna say Mass in my lug!’ And so Jenny, sometime cabbage seller, became a legend, gaining the reputation of being a Protestant heroine who stood up for her ecclesiastical principles. Some say she never existed but she's commemorated by plaques and a sculpture in St Giles.
So, in 2017 when we find ourselves in a secular version of a similar state - Jenny becomes our heroine once more. She's become a proud McRenegade and is launching A Campaign against Cultural Ignorance and Imperialism.
In her own words:
I’m the newest (and the oldest) McRenegade. I may not exist. I may not ever have existed. I may have been a woman. I may have been a man in disguise. I may be you and you may be me. We may all be Jenny Geddes.
D'ye want some facts wi' yer fiction? I was probably born in 1600 so that I was possibly around 37 when I had my first wee spot in the sun. It happened thus: I was in the Kirk (St Giles, Edinburgh) wi’ ma wee creepie stool, an’ Dean James Hannay started tae read fae the English style prayer buik.
I took action. I threw ma stool at his heid, crying ‘‘Dinna say Mass in my lug!’
A riot ensued.
So what’s that got tae dae wi’ the price o’ fish, I hear ye spear?
Anither wee fact I shud forbye tell ye, is that I wis a cabbage seller.
Sae I'm here tae tell ye, Jenny Geddes rises again. I'm here tae fling ma buik at the heid of the cultural elite and cry 'dinna speir kailyard in ma lug.'
Are you with Jenny? If so, like, share, adopt the logo... stand up for your cultural rights and don't let them bury us in a fictional kailyard!
Find Jenny on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/pg/jennygeddes2017/
There's lots about the current Kailyard debate at McRenegades. To be better informed, just type Kailyard into our search box and off you go...