New RBS fiver to feature a woman for first time

The new polymer £5, which is to be followed by a RBS polymer £10 next year, depicts the 20th-century Scottish poet and author Nan Shepherd – best known, perhaps, for the non-fiction book The Living Mountain, which describes her experiences walking in the Cairngorms.

The decision to include Shepherd on the f note was the result of a months-long consultation process carried out by the Royal Bank of Scotland with the Scottish public.

The bank said it was particularly keen to hear the public’s views on the design of both the new £5 and the polymer £10, which is due to be introduced in 2017 and will feature scientist Mary Somerville (1780 – 1872).

During the consultation, which involved workshops, polls and online collaborations, it was decided that the theme for the new designs should be ‘the fabric of nature’.

Accordingly, the £5 notes also depict the Cairngorms and a pair of mackerel, while the £10 shows Burntisland Beach in Fife, the childhood home of Mary Somerville, as well as two otters at play.

Malcolm Buchanan, chair of the bank’s Scotland Board, said: “We have been able to involve the public throughout this process, from the workshops and surveys that helped to decide on the theme, right through to the public vote that resulted in Mary Somerville being chosen to feature on the £10 note.

“People in Scotland will be using this money every day and it is quite right that they got to play an important role in designing it. This truly is the people’s money.”

Robert Macfarlane, writer and Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, added: “It is thrilling to see Nan Shepherd celebrated and commemorated in this way. Nan was a blazingly brilliant writer, a true original whose novels, poems and non-fiction broke new ground in Scottish literature, and her influence lives on powerfully today.”