A Perthshire author has had her life’s work, advancing justice for the Scottish Traveller community, recognised with a British Empire Medal (BEM) in the 2023 New Year Honours List.
Jess Smith (74) was born in Aberfeldy to a traveller family and had events not conspired to root her to Strathearn, her life might have been one of constant movement with her community.
Instead, as a young woman of 16 with her heart set on leaving Perthshire to join a CND ‘Ban the Bomb’ march, while out on an errand to the shops in Crieff, she “tripped over a pair of sky blue winklepickers” and scattered carrots everywhere.
