Margaret Swain grew up in Lancashire and was taught to embroider by her Grandmother even before she learned to read. She later trained as a nurse in London, married and after the war moved with her family to Edinburgh. While pursuing her strong interest in history she recognised the high quality of Scottish historical needlework, then little known, so she researched it, travelling widely, writing and working tirelessly to bring it to a wider audience. She also researched more widely into the history of textiles. She advised and worked with institutions at home and abroad, from Holyroodhouse in Edinburgth to the Metropolitan Museum in New York, organized exhibitions of needlework and costume and was a popular lecturer. In 1981 she received an honorary MA from Edinburgh University, and in 1989 an MBE for her work on embroidery and tapestries. She lived in Edinburgh until her death in 2002.
