This is the
first biography of Jean Gordon, who is best known as the first wife of the
notorious Earl of Bothwell. Bothwell divorced Jean in order to marry Mary,
Queen of Scots, and Jean and her family were closely involved in all of the
major events of Mary’s short and turbulent reign in Scotland. Jean was the
youngest daughter of the powerful Earl of Huntly, the ‘King in the North’, and Daughters of the North reframes the
history of Scotland during the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots by viewing events
from Jean’s point of view and from the standpoint of the north of Scotland.

The book reveals the intrigue at the royal court, and relates that Jean’s
life was much more rich and complex than supposed. Jean married three times,
and her second marriage was to the Earl of Sutherland, making her the Countess
of Sutherland – the most powerful woman in the north of Scotland, negotiating
between the Earls and the clans and exercising a huge influence over the area. She
started a coal mine and salt pan in Brora in the 16th century, an astonishing
example of early industrialisation and female agency at a time when the north
of Scotland was considered to be wild and lawless; the preserve of violent
clansmen.

Jean’s daughter married the Chief of Mackay, and Jean became involved
in the complicated life of the clans of the north of Scotland, particularly the
Mackays, but also the Clan Gunn. Her Sutherland Gordon family had an ongoing
feud with the Sinclair Earls of Caithness, while her wider Huntly Gordon family
was involved in the famous Gordon-Moray feud – all events remembered in the
songs, stories and sayings of the north and north-east. Meanwhile, Jean
followed her heart and was reunited in old age with the love of her life. This
painstakingly researched and detailed story gives the reader an eminently
readable insight into Jean’s life.