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Updated
05/14/2015 |
The Scottish Empress of
Morocco
Take a stroll
along the sleepy streets of Muthill in Perthshire, and you might be
lucky enough to spot a descendant of the village’s legendary former
resident – Helen Gloag – Empress of Morocco. Her remarkable life, which
saw her transformed from a blacksmith’s daughter to a glamorous empress,
via a Barbary pirate or two, reads like a real-life fairy tale. The only
difference is that Helen’s story has no ending. No one knows for sure
what happened to the adventurous Scottish lass after the death of her
Sultan.
Helen Gloag was born in the village of Wester Pett, near Muthill in
Perthshire in the year 1750. Her father, Andrew Gloag was a blacksmith;
however her mother died when she was still a child and her father
remarried. Helen and her step-mother did not get on well and matters
came to a head in 1769 due to Helen’s friendship with a farmer in the
area.
Many Scots were taking the opportunity
to travel to the Americas to start a new life in a new land at this time
and Helen saved some money before setting off with some friends for
Greenock, to sail to North Carolina. Disaster struck however, when the
ship that Helen and her friends were travelling aboard was attacked by
Salle Pirates off the coast of Spain with all on board being taken
captive. Helen and the other women on board were taken to Rabat in
Morocco, where the pirates would make their living by selling captives
into slavery. In the slave market, Helen caused considerable interest
from would-be purchasers as she was young and strikingly beautiful. An
astute businessman saw an opportunity and bought Helen, before gifting
her to the Emperor of Morocco, Sidi Muhammad ibn Abdullah – a deeply
religious man, well known for his wisdom and diplomacy. Sidi Muhammad
very quickly fell in love with the young Scottish lady and married her,
also giving her the title of Empress of Morocco. During the years of
their marriage, Helen bore Sidi Muhammad 2 sons.
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A fabulous beauty, with a lustrous
mane of auburn hair and green eyes, Helen soon became the
Sultan’s favorite wife. Today, many of the flame haired
residents of Muthill and nearby areas such as Crieff are thought
to be direct descendants of Helen’s family.
Helen is
credited with having influence which secured the release of many
British seafarers from the pirates’ grasp. She was also able to
send letters and gifts back to her family in Perthshire and her
brother Robert visited her in Morocco on a number of occasions.
Empress Helen’s husband, Sidi Muhammad was a skilled diplomat
and was the first head of state in the world to recognize the
United States of America after the war of independence from the
United Kingdom and also the first leader to sign treaties with
the U.S. guaranteeing their ships safe passage through sovereign
waters.
In 1790 however, Sidi Muhammad
died and his son by another lady, Mawlay Yazeed (also known as
Mad Yazeed) seized the throne. Yazeed’s first priority was to
dispose of any potential rivals to the throne, and his attention
quickly fell upon Helen’s two sons. It is said that Helen sent a
plea for help to the British Navy, who dispatched a gunboat to
Rabat, however help arrived too late and Helen’s sons were
already dead, murdered by Yazeed’s forces. After this time,
nothing is recorded of Helen although there are varying tales of
her suffering the same fate as her sons, or a return to Britain,
or a different narration of a monument having been erected in
Rabat in memory of a Scottish Empress, implying that she
survived the chaos of the time. The name Gloag is still a common
name in Perthshire giving a living link to these events from the
past. |
Helen’s story
inspired novels such as bestseller The Fourth Queen by Debbie
Taylor. Historians and scholars have studied her life; she has also
been the subject of numerous articles and exhibitions. |