At the height of the European witch-hunts of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, many women were identified as witches and killed merely because they were redheads. If you were born with red hair back in the sixteen century Europe, it was not a good thing. It is true that during Elizabeth's reign red hair became very popular, but in general red hair was associated with witchcraft, tempestuous personality, sin and even hell. It's derisory of anyone with fair to reddish hair, male or female, but I think starts with those in Scotland and northern Ireland - may be a nasty anagram (both G's are hard). Here's some tracing of the Tudor red hair inheritance (no references): My angle was Elizabeth in the Faerie Queene - she's represented as Belphoebe etc, but I couldn't find anything on Spenser's symbolism of red hair.
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