”They wept together”: Investigating miscarriage, taboo and support in early modern Scotland
Dr Philippa Woodcock's research project seeks uncover how families broached the subject in the early modern past, largely through the study of their correspondence. Was miscarriage named euphemistically or explicitly? Did the sex or the religion of the author and recipient influence discourse, and how did families broach the contrast between one couple’s successful childbearing and another’s loss? Most importantly, how did families recover after miscarriage?
The project has been supported by funding from
- Royal Historical Society's (2025)
- Royal Society of Edinburgh (2026)
Dr Woodcock has also been awarded funding for a case study, ‘”They Wept Together": Miscarriage and the Hamilton Sisters in Early Modern Scotland' by the Strathmartine Trust.
You can follow the project and visits Dr Woodcock has conducted below.
