Mary Brooksbank was born in an Aberdeen slum, the oldest of either five or ten children, and came to Dundee when she was eight or nine years old. She began working illegally in Dundee's jute mills as a bobbin shifter by the age of 12, and had her first experience of trade unionism at the age of 14, when the girls at her jute mill successfully marched for a 15% pay rise. Mary's father, Sandy Soutar, was from St Vigeans, Arbroath, near Dundee, and had been an active trade unionist amongst the dock workers, working with James Connolly. Her mother, Rose Ann Soutar née Gillan was a fisher lassie and domestic servant. It is said that the Soutar family was "effectively blacklisted in Dundee because of their trade union activities".
Political life
At 21, Mary Brooksbank rejected Roman Catholicism, became an atheist and was inspired by John McLean to join the Communist Party to fight for women's rights, equality, and the demise of capitalism. She is famously quoted as saying:
“I have never had any personal ambitions. I have but one: to make my contribution to destroy the capitalist system.”
She later drifted from the Communist Party as she was critical of Stalin, and became more sympathetic to Scottish nationalism. John Maclean, whose classes she attended in Glasgow, was a major proponent of an independent "Scottish workers republic".
Music
Family sing-a-longs nurtured Mary Brooksbank's love of music. She sang, played the violin and wrote songs. When money was low, she would ride the ferry from Dundee to Tayport and sing for money in the street. Most of her songs were about the life of the working-class mill workers of Dundee, mostly women. She called these songs "Mill Songs". They were full of detail and sympathy for the struggle with which these hard-working, poorly paid women were engaged just to feed and care for their families. Her most famous song was "Jute Mill Song" or "Oh Dear Me". Jute Mill Song Oh dear me, the mill's gannin' fast The puir wee shifters canna get a rest Shiftin' bobbins coorse and fine They fairly mak' ye work for your ten and nine Oh dear me, I wish the day was done Rinnin' up and doon the Pass it is nae fun Shiftin', piecin', spinnin' warp weft and twine Tae feed and clad my bairnie affen ten and nine Oh dear me, the warld is ill divided Them that works the hardest are the least provided I maun bide contented, dark days or fine For there's nae much pleasure livin' affen ten and nine Repeat 1 You can hear it sung by Mary Brookshanks and then by later folksingers at the Scots Language Centre: . Her original notebook of songs and poems is held by the archives at the University of Dundee.
Death
Mary Brooksbank died at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee on 16 March 1978. A library in Dundee was named in her honour. When the library was closed, the Brooksbank Centre on Pitairlie Road was named after her. As well, a verse from her famous Jute Mill Song is inscribed in Iona marble on the Scottish Parliament Building's Canongate Wall, which displays quotations from many famous Scottish writers and poets.
In popular culture
A rearrangement of the "Jute Mill Song" or "Oh Dear Me" was created by the American artists Brian House and Sue Huang of collaborative Knifeandfork for a performance installation at West Ward Works and Verdant Works in 2016 for the NEoN Digital Arts Festival. A series of musicians situated along a path winding through the historic jute mills of the Blackness area of Dundee, Scotland passed along messages as encoded song fragments that were then decoded at end terminals.
