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Frances Cairncross - Economist
Frances is an Economist and a senior editor of the Economist magazine. Frances is from Lenzie, Dunbartonshire where she was a Brownie and Guide."I think above all young women need to be socially poised and self-confident, with a sense of control over their lives."
The proximity of the countryside. I spent hours and hours walking the dog in the shade of the Campsie Hills and can still feel, as I write, the spring of the drying peat bogs under my bare feet on a summer's afternoon, and hear the larks.
a) a city and b) a place in the country-side to visit in Scotland - where would you recommend?
I'd send them to Glasgow, because it has an unpretentious gritty cheerful authenticity that
no other large city in Britain enjoys. It's also one of the main cradles of Britain's Victorian
greatness, and the Clyde is an immensely historic river. It's also extraordinary to see how
narrow a stream carried all that 19th century ship-building down to the sea.
As for country, I'd say Galloway. We have a house near the shore, and it is
a land that time forgot: a marvellous calming landscape with constantly changing
light and shadows, and people who have time to talk to each other, and a sense
of safety that I can dimly recall from my childhood in Lenzie but that is now
gone from most people's lives.
I think it's possible that there will be searchable directories of people's DNA available online. That will allow each of us to track down distant relatives - whether they want it or not!
I have had far more opportunities because I am a woman than I would have had as a man. But I'm aware that this may no longer be true for my daughters' generation. They may have to prove themselves more than I ever did.
Any nice word from one of my two dear daughters is something I treasure!
I'm afraid I think they are all essential, and find it hard to say if one is more essential than others. But I think above all young women need to be socially poised and self-confident, with a sense of control over their lives. If they have that, the two other qualities may follow.
Lots of practical things. Not only was I too much of a swot to be allowed to do domestic science
(so I didn't learn to cook at school).
I had three brothers at that time, and a mother who preferred to run the home without help from
an inept daughter - so I would probably not have learnt to make stew or darn socks or stitch
a hem if I hadn't been a Brownie and then a Guide.
Save, right from the start; keep an account of your own when you get married and don't pool everything with your husband; pay off your credit card every single time.
What a nice question. I love washing my car. It is a bright yellow Mazda sports car - small and nippy - and the first car I ever bought for myself. I also love making bread - somehow, it always tastes vastly better than bread bought in a shop - or even bread baked in a bread machine.
To find out more about Economics please see The Economist
