The second annual Robin MacCormick prizegiving was introduced by Dr Neill Martin from the University of Edinburgh’s School of Celtic & Scottish Studies.
Dr Martin reminded everyone present of the School’s constituents – Celtic languages and literatures and the study of ethnology. The studies synthesise data to compare cultures, using interviews and fieldwork to reveal in a wider setting the hidden world that lies behind storytelling and beliefs.
Addressing the audience in an online recording, Aberdeenshire folksinger and prize winner, Ailsa Dixon, had entitled her dissertation “Never Have We Had So Much Need for Storytelling and its Healing Powers: Storytelling for Wellbeing within the Public Health Sector”.
Her interviews focused on background, demographics, experience, philosophy and why interviewees had chosen particular tales. Key findings embraced the benefits for people with dementia, refugees, young people and vulnerable adults, which often were best achieved within partnership-working settings, with public or charitable funding and a multidisciplinary focus on archetypical association.
Place-based storytelling could include wisdom tales, folktales and of course Scottish ones. By strengthening social relationships, stories could act as sparks for meaning-making activity, encouraging discussion, reflection, personal experiences, artistic response and a desire to conserve their settings.
Since the 1980s there has been an increase in professionalisation which is not a new development, stemming from the growth of freelance creatives, but has led to a continuing divergence from the traditional stream of stories carrying down families and requires careful application to that process.
There is thus a need for training, with a duty of care for the participants and awareness of their inheritance, and for a sense of purpose that focuses on the needs of the storyteller and provides for collaboration with appropriate signposting and partnership working.
Future research could promote the development of training while leading to a PhD : meanwhile Ailsa has been delighted to use her prize money to purchase a splendid fiddle.
The second prize winner, Rhea Clarke, who hails from a sporty family in Fife, appeared in person. She said that, for her, rugby is a lifelong passion and her early experience revealed gender bias, yet the sport has given her lasting friendships, travel and cultural insights.
From the first women’s team in 1962, Women’s Rugby in Scotland grew to the first national team in 1993, with expansion from 19 teams then to 57 today. Her approach combined qualitative interviews focused on players’ lived experience with archival analysis including examination of media and memorabilia.
Her theoretical framework led from grounded theory raised by participants so as to minimise researcher bias, through ethnosymbolism probing national identity by means of symbolic representation, to visual analysis of media portrayals.
In a semi-structured format of interviews with ex-national players, she explored themes such as identity, gender barriers and national representation, posing open-ended questions to encourage natural conversation and deeper insights.
What she found was how empowerment can be gained through rugby which builds self-confidence and resilience, fostering a sense of community. A strong national identity also inspires and empowers individuals and communities beyond rugby, enabling women to express their identities and challenge traditional gender norms.
Increased investment, professional structures and visibility are key to future growth. Women players challenge traditional masculine representation of Scotland and reshape national narratives.
Greater visibility offers new role-models, changing how women see themselves and are perceived in society. Her study has shown how women’s contributions over years have shaped both the sport and Scotland’s national identity,.
Rugby builds self-confidence, community and personal identity, linking women’s empowerment to national and team identity – however despite its growth, pay equity and full recognition remain a challenge, and future research may explore grassroots experiences and the broader cultural impact on women’s rugby in Scotland.
Thanking the winners, Dr Morag MacCormick expressed her delight, as a feminist, that both were women. As a rugby fan, she very much hoped that Rhea Clarke was helping set the national women’s team on course to win the Women’s Grand Slam.
