大象传媒 Scotland - 大象传媒 Scotland - Who deserves to be featured on a Scottish bank note?

Who deserves to be featured on a Scottish bank note?

Chris McQueer is on a mission to discover more about the people on our bank notes.

Each Scottish bank note tells a story, but how many of us have heard them before? On Noteworthy author Chris McQueer investigates the people whose faces adorn our cash and learns why they're considered worthy of being there.

At Edinburgh design agency, Nile, he meets Jeni Lennox who was responsible for updating the Royal Bank of Scotland's £5 note in 2016. She explains that numerous public consultations helped shape the idea of the design:

“The really strong message from the Scottish public was they they didn’t want notes that celebrated greatness in the sense of castles and bridges, but they wanted the greatness of everyday magic. Of ordinary people of real life in Scotland not the shortbread tin version."

What Makes Someone Noteworthy?

Chris McQueer explores some of the amazing stories behind the faces on banknotes.

Some of the faces you'll find on Scottish bank notes:

£5 - Nan Shepherd

Celebrated writer, modernist and poet, Nan Shepherd, is best known for her memoir The Living Mountain which depicts her experiences of hill walking in her beloved Cairngorms. She is considered one the definitive voices from 20th Century Scottish literature.

£10 - Mary Somerville

A Scottish science writer and academic, Mary Somerville was one of the first women to be nominated as a member of the Royal Astronomical Society, alongside German astronomer Caroline Herschel. She is best known for carrying out detailed and highly-accurate studies of the solar system.

£20 - Catherine Cranston

A leading businesswoman and entrepreneur Catherine Cranston is best known for developing and innovating the Scottish tearoom through the creation of her Glasgow establishments The Willow Tearooms and Miss Cranston’s Tea Rooms. She was a prolific patron and supporter of the arts, and a long-time collaborator of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his wife Margaret Macdonald. Her tea rooms still exist today as testament to the Art and Crafts movement and the work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

£50 - Elsie Inglis

A prominent Scottish doctor and suffragette, Elsie Inglis is best known for her work establishing the Scottish Women's Hospitals for Foreign Services (SWH) during the First World War. This allowed women within the medical profession who would have been prohibited from practicing medicine in the Royal Army Corps to play their part and contribute to the war effort.