Queer histories before the early twentieth century are undoubtedly hard to pinpoint, but we have always been here, deeply intertwined with Scotland's rich and complex past. Art has played a crucial role in capturing, expressing and at times concealing queer histories, reflecting the shifting constraints people faced across different eras.

The Interior of the National Gallery of Scotland, c.1868–1872

From the ancient Pictish tribes to the paint palettes and photography of the early twentieth centuries, we can trace how queer lives, desires and identities have been represented – or obscured – throughout Scottish art history.

Borders and bodies in the shaping of early Scotland

Ancient societies had different attitudes towards gender and sexuality, and their social relationships often reflected dynamics we might recognise as queer today.

Almost 2,000 years ago, the Roman emperor Hadrian ordered the construction of Hadrian's Wall, also known as the Picts' Wall. It was built to separate Roman Britain from the 'barbarians' in the north (now Scotland).

The Picts, whose name derives from the Latin 'Picti', means 'painted or tattooed people'. Theodor de Bry's engravings immortalised their striking appearance, while historical records reveal that Pictish societies, where some warriors were women, followed matrilineal succession. This stood in contrast to Roman norms, which tied masculinity to social dominance and structured male relationships, such as pederasty.

Hadrian's relationship with the Greek youth Antinous mirrored some of these traditions. After Antinous' untimely death, Hadrian mourned him deeply, commissioning public artworks in his memory.

The Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau movements were often inspired by myths and medieval history. Modern artists reimagined figures like Saint Columba, depicted here landing on the isle of Iona in a work by Frank Brangwyn.

As an Irish missionary pivotal in converting the Picts to Christianity, Columba was later chronicled by Adomnán of Iona in the seventh century. One anecdote references the monks Findchán and Áed Dub, noting that Findchán 'had carnal love for Áed'. This story offers a rare glimpse into queer encounters in medieval Scotland.

Desire and danger at the Royal Court of Scotland

Religious reformation in sixteenth-century Scotland was driven by anxieties over power and morality. This was particularly true within royal circles, where individuals, protected by status and wealth, could exercise greater personal freedoms. Poet Marie Maitland, often called Scotland's sixteenth-century Sappho, explored love and desire between women in her poems – such as in Poem 49, where the narrator imagines adopting male attire to marry another woman. Her brother William Maitland was involved in the 1566 murder of David Rizzio.

The murder was orchestrated by Lord Darnley, Mary, Queen of Scots's jealous and insecure husband. Darnley himself was rumoured to have relationships with men. Accounts at the time described Darnley as indulging in 'unmanly pleasures', and his close relationship with Rizzio did not go unnoticed, with one account stating they 'lay in one bed together'.

Mary, Queen of Scots and Lord Darnley's only child was James VI of Scotland (and later James I of England). He is now recognised as one of Europe's most openly queer monarchs, forming affectionate relationships with several male courtiers. This included George Villiers, whom he affectionately called his 'wife'.

George Villiers (1592–1628), 1st Duke of Buckingham

James's ascension to the English throne in 1603 united the crowns, setting the stage for future conflicts over Scotland's place in the British Isles.

Society and the self in the Scottish Enlightenment

The Scottish Enlightenment emerged amidst political tensions and cultural exchange, reshaping Scotland's social landscape and fostering early concepts of belonging, individualism and self-fashioning. One such political tension was the Jacobite uprising, which sought to restore a Catholic monarch to the British throne.

Prince Henry Benedict Stuart (1725–1807), Cardinal Duke of York

After the Jacobite defeat at the Battle of Culloden in 1746, Charles Edward Stuart, better known as Bonnie Prince Charlie, fled Scotland, joining his family at the Stuart court in exile in Rome. His brother, Henry Benedict Stuart, ordained as a Catholic priest, was known for his deep connection with other men. His relationship with majordomo Giovanni Lercari was so significant that Henry left Rome in protest when Lercari was dismissed from the household, only returning when he was reinstated. Benedict's later companion, Angelo Cesarini, remained by his side for over 30 years.

Meanwhile, James Byres, who went into exile after the uprising, became a guide to British gentlemen on their Grand Tours, working alongside his partner, Christopher Norton.

James Byres of Tonley and Members of his Family

Byres' family portrait, which includes Norton, also makes visual references to their relationship. It features Bonnie Prince Charlie, and Zeus in the form of an eagle with his young male lover, Ganymede. Byres returned to the Scottish Highlands in 1790, making an inventory of the Italian apartment he had shared with Norton; amongst the listing is a possible image of the emperor Hadrian.

Back in Scotland, Byres reconnected with his childhood friend Elyza Fraser.

Elyza Fraser eventually inherited Castle Fraser and became its laird, living there alongside her partner, Mary Bristow. The two shared private quarters at the castle, traditionally reserved for the laird and his wife. Though technically two rooms, the matching soft furnishings – believed to be hand-embroidered by the couple – decorate only one. Today, their portraits, along with Byres', hang in this room.

While living together, the couple worked to improve the castle and estate, and Fraser drafted a death deed to pass on the castle and title to Bristow. However, with Bristow's passing before her own, Fraser's wish was never fulfilled.

Tradition and transgression in a romanticised Scotland

The Industrial Revolution in Scotland spurred urbanisation and the romanticisation of the Highland landscape and cultural heritage. It also contributed to the changing of traditional relationships and gender roles.

Sir Walter Scott, a key figure in shaping Scotland's national identity, blended history with myth in his works and reflected on shifting social norms and contemporary sodomy laws in his diaries. Also recorded is his visit to Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby – The Ladies of Llangollen – a couple whose relationship became the epitome of fashionable 'romantic friendships'.

Anne Lister had also visited the couple and pondered on the true nature of their relationship, drawing inspiration from their domestic arrangement for her own future. She later made plans for the Scottish noblewoman Sibella Maclean to move into Lister's home, Shibden Hall, as her companion. The two women became lovers while travelling through Scotland in 1828.

The locals of Shibden often referred to Lister as 'Gentleman Jack' due to her rumoured affairs with women and her gender transgressions. In a diary entry, she recalls her climb to the peak of Arthur's Seat, moralising that 'ladies should not attempt it' – a comment in which Lister both distances herself from the gendered constraints of her time and, paradoxically, reinforces them.

Sophia Louisa Jex-Blake (1840–1912), MD, MRCP

Thirty years later, Sophia Jex-Blake, a prominent figure in the Edinburgh Seven, fought for women's right to attend medical school at Edinburgh University, overcoming immense opposition. With the support of her partner Margaret Todd, a fellow doctor and writer, Jex-Blake paved the way for women's medical education, founding the Edinburgh School of Medicine for Women in 1886. The pair lived together for over 25 years, and Todd later honoured Jex-Blake's legacy in a biography, highlighting her groundbreaking work.

Crafting new conventions during the Great War

The First World War led to profound shifts in social roles and sparked an exploration of freedom of expression in the arts.

Before its outbreak, war poet Siegfried Sassoon read The Intermediate Sex by early socialist and gay rights activist Edward Carpenter. The book profoundly influenced Sassoon's understanding of his sexuality, prompting him to write to Carpenter a year later: 'What ideas I had about homosexuality were absolutely prejudicial, and I was in such a groove that I couldn't allow myself to be what I wished to be.'

In the same year that Glyn Philpot painted Sassoon's portrait, Sassoon formed a close relationship with Wilfred Owen while both were at Craiglockhart War Hospital in Edinburgh. Philpot, Wilfred and Sassoon all appear to have grappled with their sexuality. After the war, Sassoon had many relationships with men, though to the surprise of many of his friends, he married Hester Gatty in 1933. However, the relationship didn't last.

Francis Dodd's portrait of Flora Murray depicts her in uniform. A pioneering female doctor from Dumfriesshire, Murray co-founded the Women's Hospital Corps with her partner, Louisa Garrett Anderson, opening a hospital in Paris during the First World War. Dodd painted both of the women's portraits during the same year.

Before the war, Flora Murray cared for suffragettes who were force-fed in prison and found herself under surveillance by Scotland Yard for allegedly helping them escape rearrest. After the war, she dedicated her book Women as Army Surgeons to Anderson, calling her 'my Loving Companion'. The couple wore matching diamond rings, and their memorial headstone reads, 'we have been gloriously happy': a public declaration of their love and life together.

Together, these figures have shaped Scotland's cultural and social landscape. From ancient Pictish tribes to the contributions of twentieth-century artists, writers and intellectuals, queer lives have always been an integral part of Scotland's evolving identity. Their stories – whether visible or obscured – have helped visualise a community heritage in which queer histories can be seen and remembered. Yet, what has been recorded and represented is only the surface: beneath this visible history lie countless untold stories and experiences.

Today, modern artists express themselves more freely, exploring new histories and perspectives in a changing world, ensuring that queer voices continue to shape and enrich Scotland's cultural narrative.

Indigo Dunphy-Smith, researcher and writer

This content was funded by the PF Charitable Trust