Nan Shepherd to feature on new Scottish bank note

Aberdeen-born author Nan Shepherd will be included on a new Scottish five pound note due to enter circulation later this year.

Published: April 26, 2016 at 1:39 pm

This is a historic milestone as it is the first time that any woman has featured on a widely-circulated Scottish bank note.

The Royal Bank of Scotland decided to feature the country-loving novelist and poet in front of an image of her beloved Cairngorms and alongside a quote from her most celebrated work, The Living Mountain.

After years of climbing – and even sleeping on – the Cairngorms, Shepherd wrote The Living Mountain towards the close of the Second World War, by which time she was already a well-established author. Now considered a classic of mountain literature, the book has influenced contemporary authors such as Robert Macfarlane.

The Royal Bank of Scotland also announced that the £10 note would feature Scottish scientist Mary Somerville.

The Scottish public were involved in the decision-making process, from initial ideas, to the final outcome.

RBS Scotland board chairman Malcolm Buchanan said: "People in Scotland will be using this money every day and it is quite right that they got to play an important role in designing it. It gives me enormous pleasure that we are able to celebrate the fantastic, and often overlooked, achievements of two great Scottish women. Both made huge contributions in their respective fields."

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