Beyond Borders Scotland and Dove Tales, the Association of Scottish Writers for Peace, collaborated on the Beyond Writing Competition, aiming to facilitating dialogue and cultural exchange through the creative writing and storytelling.    

The competition consisted of three rounds; Inspirational Women, Creative Peace and Beyond Borders.  

This piece by Sarah Spence was shortlisted in Round I: Inspirational Women. The competition’s judge, Jean Rafferty of Dove Tales, described the piece as celebrating  ‘the courage of the first women to study medicine and their determination in the face of male opposition’ 

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My submission for the ‘Inspirational Women’ writing competition is a poem about the Edinburgh Seven, the first female undergraduates in Britain, studying medicine at the University of Edinburgh. The first applicant, Sophia Jex-Blake, was rejected on the grounds that she would be the only female student. Looking for a group of fellow students, she advertised in national newspapers, attracting women from all over the country. 

The group faced much opposition, both from staff and students, culminating in the Surgeons’ Hall Riot. However, the injustices the women experienced – and their dignified determination – won the Edinburgh Seven many supporters. This led to legislation allowing women to study medicine at university level. 

The Edinburgh Seven, 1870 

The good doctors at the university diagnose
something pathological, an infection threatening
to spread through the educational system: women.
Seven medical students, petitioning for admission. 

Well, we win, and relocating to Edinburgh
we matriculate as ladies, taking a thin tenement
on Buccleuch Place  – our feminine headquarters
in these narrow Old Town streets. We travel together,
to lecture theatres and classrooms, on paths
not made for us. 

The men in opposition refuse to share their training.
They sabotage our anatomy exam – a feverish gathering
howling in the November weather, throwing rubbish,
mud, dirty words, slamming the Surgeons’ Hall gates.
Closing off our route like a tourniquet turned tight. 

But we  Seven against Edinburgh refuse to be cowed
and steady as skilled surgeons cut through the crowd. 

Photo: Sophia Jex-Blake. Photograph by Swaine. Credit: Wellcome Collection.