At BMHQ we love it when we discover whole other layers to the meaning of an intaglio. Kind of like the overused peeling of the onion metaphor, except less smelly and kinder on the eyes!

And as it turns out, there is more to this wee belter of a seal than first we thought. If, like us, you’re thinking dinna forget and a thistle is the brusque Scots equivalent of the Victorian motto and motif of the forget-me-not, you wouldn’t be wrong.

But…

The motto and motif on this seal are almost certainly inspired by the poem Dinna Forget, Love by Eliza Cook. A gorgeous piece of prose about a promise of love made by a lassie to her laddie, while roamin’ in that there gloamin’. A promise of a ring and a kirk (church). And a laddie reminding his love to make good on that promise (though we’re not fancying his chances if he’s having to chase her to the altar).

There’s more…

Eliza Cook was a feminist who fought for the rights of women almost a century before the suffragette movement and championed the cause of the working classes. She talked about ‘levelling up’ (hmm, now why does that sound familiar?!) through self-education and defied gender expectations in her dress and comportment.

In other words, our Eliza was a harbinger and rebel with (more than one) cause, who didn’t give a damn about early Victorian social conventions.

And one more thing …

Eliza had a ‘friendship’ with a woman. Gasp. Scandal. Much mass fainting among the Victorian genteel.

Bold, badass, ahead of her time, takes no prisoners! Our kind of woman. And right on brand!

‘Mon Eliza!