166:
leadership was much in evidence during the years of persecution of the Quaker community between 1676 and 1679 when every male Quaker in
Aberdeen, almost 30 in number including her husband, oldest son and son-in-law, were imprisoned for months or years. The women of the community were not imprisoned and were free to meet and petition for the release of their menfolk. Her searing letter of 31 March 1677 entitled 'Word of Warning to the Magistrates and Inhabitants of Aberdeen' publicly took to task the Magistrates, the ministers and the people of Aberdeen and was published in the local newspapers. In the letter she mentioned her own preaching 'at severall seasons and in diverse maners I have witnessed' while also condemning the imprisoning of 'honest men that have families wives and children ... in those cold nasty stinking holes where ye have shutt them up, who have been as neatly handled and tenderly educated and as usefull in their generation as any amongst you'. It is likely that in the 1680s she helped her husband write his two manuscript accounts of the history of Quakerism in Aberdeen.
154:, with her husband joining her in 1672. Of this time she wrote, 'It is very well known to all that lived in the place where I sojourned, I was none who conversed with them, I was never at one of their meetings, I never read one of their books', yet she experienced 'that thing the school-men call Immediat Objective Revelation'. While the citizens of Aberdeen knew her as Lilias Gillespie, among the Quaker community she was known by her husband's surname.
29:
244:) was a Presbyterian dissenter whose hate-filled writings against the Quakers had previously persuaded her husband Alexander Skene to write and print a rebuttal. Lilias Skene's 'Epistle' against Macquare was balanced but to the point, commenting: 'O Robert! thy hard speeches have manifested thy own sad acknowledgement to be very true, the Holy fire is gone out with thee indeed'.
251:
written by her between 1665 and 1697, 1,472 lines in total transcribed from an original manuscript in the private papers of a previous owner that are now lost, presumably accidentally burnt after the death of the owner. Lilias Skene's poetry and prose were heavy with mystical allusions and scriptural
186:
cousin of the Stuart kings, in an attempt to convert her. The
Quakers hoped Elisabeth would intervene on their behalf with her royal relatives in Britain even though their attempt at evangelising her failed. Barclay introduced Skene to Elisabeth as 'a woman of great experience and tenderness of heart
235:
Skene's letters and poems are among the few writings still extant today of a 17th-century
Scottish woman who was not an aristocrat. Her only known publication during her lifetime (in which the author referred to her as Lillias Skein) was 'An Expostulatory Epistle, Directed to Robert Macquare' (1678)
210:
on their tour of the
Netherlands and Germany during the summer of 1677. Similarly, Barclay wrote that Skene intended to go but Penn and Fox do not mention her in their writings about the trip, and in a letter written to Skene in 1678 Elisabeth seems to be implying that the two had not actually met,
165:
in its congregation and Skene was the leading female figure in it, having a position equal to the men when dealing with disciplinary matters, while religious meetings were often held in the Skenes' home. In about 1678 Skene was involved in setting up the first Quaker school in
Scotland. Her
252:
images of suffering and salvation. The
Aberdeenshire poll-tax book for 1696 states that the now widowed Skene was living in modest circumstances in Aberdeen with her daughter Anna and two servants. Here she died in June 1697 aged 68 and was buried beside her husband in an
187:
who through great tribulations both of body and mind hath attained the earnest of the
Kingdom husband and son-in-law are now in Prison'. Skene corresponded with the princess and her companion, Countess Anna Maria van Hoorn, and was invited to visit them at
211:
writing: 'I love your upright intention to travail (i.e. toil) in spirit for your friends, though unknown to you'. During the summer of 1677 Skene was actually in London and also found time to visit the philosopher
119:
and a leading man in the church courts. Moving to
Aberdeen to live with her husband, between 1647 and 1669 the couple had ten children, their oldest surviving son being
227:, was bedridden and Skene befriended her and the two began a correspondence with Skene organising from Aberdeen the hiring of Quaker servants for Conway's home.
75:. Her father's date of death is uncertain, being either around the time of Skene's birth or just after her marriage in 1646. Her brothers included the
298:
195:, where Elisabeth was the Abbess. Skene's letters have not survived but are referred to in correspondence between Barclay and the Princess.
293:
267:
in
Aberdeen in addition to an information board about her at the Tollhouse were the Quaker men were imprisoned during her lifetime.
351:
Robert
Barclay's apology for the true Christian divinity vindicated from John Brown's examination and pretended confutation thereof
120:
472:
492:
477:
80:
179:
319:
482:
212:
199:
162:
115:. From 1649 to 1671 he held various offices in Aberdeen, including Treasurer of the Town Council, Dean of Guild,
247:
The 19th-century literary historian William Walker published selections from thirty-three lyric poems and three
487:
418:
The Conway Letters: The Correspondence of Anne, Viscountess Conway, Henry More, and their Friends, 1642–1684
385:
Reliquiae Barclaianae: Correspondence of Colonel David Barclay and Robert Barclay of Urie and His Son Robert
22:
84:
467:
462:
92:
32:'Lilias Skene excoriates the magistrates of Aberdeen for the inhuman treatment of her fellows' (1677)
136:
132:
263:
Today there is a plaque dedicated to Lilias Skene on a wall near the entrance of the Crown Street
147:
139:
76:
430:
88:
28:
143:
253:
241:
237:
220:
175:
158:
157:
The Quaker community in Aberdeen was small but became increasingly influential, having
64:
456:
264:
188:
207:
216:
128:
124:
257:
203:
192:
108:
183:
72:
420:, ed. by Marjorie Hope Nicols, rev. ed. (Oxford: Clarendon, 1992), p. 438
104:
68:
248:
224:
151:
44:
116:
435:
Woman and the Feminine in Medieval and Early Modern Scottish Writing
142:) who were admired for their deep faith at a time when their strict
27:
113:
Memorialls for the Government of the Royall-Burghs in Scotland
336:, ed. M. M. Dunn, R. S. Dunn, and others, 2 (1982) 96n., 105n
294:
Skene (née Gillespie), Lilias (Lillias Skein) (1626/7–1697)
71:, and John Gillespie (d. 1627 or c.1647), the minister of
387:, (London: privately published, 1870), pp. 7, 8, 14, 20–3
362:'Brieff account of the most material passages', pp, 37–9
399:, ed. M. M. Dunn, R. S. Dunn, and others, Vol. 2 (1982)
43:(8 November 1628 – 21 June 1697) was a Scottish
347:
An Expostulatory Epistle, Directed to Robert Macquare
127:
from 1684 to 1687. Skene and her husband were avowed
373:
William Penn and the Dutch migration to Pennsylvania
123:(c.1649–1690) who was to become Deputy Governor of
431:'Lilias Skene: A Quaker Poet and her ‘Cursed Self'
135:religious and political movement, who supported a
103:On 26 August 1646 at Kirkcaldy she married the
8:
240:'s works in 1679. Macquare (known today as
202:says that Skene went with Keith, Barclay,
16:Scottish Quaker preacher, prophet and poet
107:merchant Alexander Skene (c1621–1694), a
314:
312:
310:
308:
299:Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
276:
59:, one of eight children born to Lilias
288:
286:
284:
282:
280:
150:. In 1669 Skene suddenly converted to
302:, Published online: 23 September 2004
7:
321:The Bards of Bon-Accord, 1375–1860
63:Simson (d. 1627), the daughter of
14:
21:For the Australian activist, see
256:in the Quaker burial-ground at
223:. Conway, a recent convert to
1:
178:persuaded Skene to write to
146:was out of favour following
47:preacher, prophet and poet.
180:Elisabeth of the Palatinate
509:
397:The Papers of William Penn
334:The Papers of William Penn
20:
349:, (1678), in R. Barclay,
55:She was born in 1628 as
231:Later life and writings
99:Marriage and Conversion
33:
23:Lillias Margaret Skene
473:People from Kirkcaldy
85:University of Glasgow
31:
493:17th-century Quakers
478:People from Aberdeen
93:Westminster Assembly
429:DesBrisay, Gordon
236:included in one of
83:, Principal of the
324:(1887), pp. 85–102
292:DesBrisay, Gordon
198:The biographer of
140:Church of Scotland
111:and the author of
91:, a member of the
77:Church of Scotland
67:, the minister of
34:
182:(1618–1680), the
81:Patrick Gillespie
500:
483:Scottish Quakers
447:
444:
438:
427:
421:
415:
409:
406:
400:
394:
388:
382:
376:
369:
363:
360:
354:
343:
337:
331:
325:
316:
303:
290:
131:(a 17th-century
89:George Gillespie
57:Lilias Gillespie
508:
507:
503:
502:
501:
499:
498:
497:
453:
452:
451:
450:
445:
441:
428:
424:
416:
412:
407:
403:
395:
391:
383:
379:
370:
366:
361:
357:
344:
340:
332:
328:
317:
306:
291:
278:
273:
233:
172:
148:the Restoration
144:Presbyterianism
101:
53:
26:
17:
12:
11:
5:
506:
504:
496:
495:
490:
488:Quaker writers
485:
480:
475:
470:
465:
455:
454:
449:
448:
439:
422:
410:
401:
389:
377:
364:
355:
353:(1679), p. 203
345:Lilias Skein,
338:
326:
304:
275:
274:
272:
269:
254:unmarked grave
242:Robert MacWard
238:Robert Barclay
232:
229:
221:Worcestershire
176:Robert Barclay
171:
168:
159:Robert Barclay
100:
97:
65:Patrick Simson
52:
49:
15:
13:
10:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
505:
494:
491:
489:
486:
484:
481:
479:
476:
474:
471:
469:
466:
464:
461:
460:
458:
446:Skein, p. 201
443:
440:
436:
432:
426:
423:
419:
414:
411:
405:
402:
398:
393:
390:
386:
381:
378:
375:(1935), p. 27
374:
368:
365:
359:
356:
352:
348:
342:
339:
335:
330:
327:
323:
322:
315:
313:
311:
309:
305:
301:
300:
295:
289:
287:
285:
283:
281:
277:
270:
268:
266:
265:Meeting house
261:
259:
255:
250:
245:
243:
239:
230:
228:
226:
222:
218:
215:at her home,
214:
209:
205:
201:
196:
194:
190:
189:Herford Abbey
185:
181:
177:
169:
167:
164:
160:
155:
153:
149:
145:
141:
138:
134:
130:
126:
122:
118:
114:
110:
106:
98:
96:
94:
90:
86:
82:
78:
74:
70:
66:
62:
58:
50:
48:
46:
42:
41:Lillias Skein
38:
30:
24:
19:
442:
437:, pp 162-177
434:
425:
417:
413:
404:
396:
392:
384:
380:
372:
367:
358:
350:
346:
341:
333:
329:
320:
297:
262:
246:
234:
208:William Penn
200:George Keith
197:
173:
163:George Keith
156:
137:Presbyterian
112:
102:
60:
56:
54:
40:
37:Lilias Skene
36:
35:
18:
468:1697 deaths
463:1628 births
408:Hull, p. 33
318:W. Walker,
217:Ragley Hall
213:Anne Conway
129:Covenanters
125:West Jersey
457:Categories
271:References
258:Kingswells
204:George Fox
193:Westphalia
121:John Skene
109:magistrate
79:ministers
51:Early life
371:W. Hull,
225:Quakerism
184:Calvinist
170:Influence
152:Quakerism
73:Kirkcaldy
249:anagrams
174:In 1676
133:Scottish
105:Aberdeen
69:Stirling
117:Baillie
87:, and
45:Quaker
206:and
161:and
219:in
191:in
61:née
39:or
459::
433:,
307:^
296::
279:^
260:.
95:.
25:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
