I WAS delighted to read Cally Phillips’ article Scotching the Kailyard Myth (The National, October 17) and I fully support what she argues, as should all Scots interested in our own native, and hugely undervalued, literary canon. My grandfather, John Whitehead (1884-1969), was from a humble working-class background and left school at 14 as did so many in his position.
He had a passion for literature and built up over the years an impressive personal library, probably from second-hand shops, including many classics. Some of the collection ended up with me on the death of my mother and I was always intrigued by a book entitled The Stickit Minister by SR Crockett. I assumed the book was a novel and further assumed the Scots word “stickit” referred to thin stature. In fact, it turns out to be a collection of short stories and “stickit” refers to the financial straits in which a minister finds himself after financing his brother through a medical degree.
The stories are wonderful – simple but beautifully written about aspects of late 19th century life in the south-west of Scotland. It lead me to seek out further works by SR Crockett which are diverse and uniformly excellent. I was left wondering why on Earth it was that I had to suffer the usual offerings at school when our own native writers remained, and remain, unknown and certainly unstudied.
From that collection I was also introduced to John Galt, who wrote equally beautifully in English and in the vernacular. Both authors offer unique insights into Scots life at the time and they often, particularly in vernacular dialogue, show keen and highly entertaining humour.
I would passionately support the reintroduction of the works of these truly great authors into the school curriculum and for publishers to make their books available in whatever format to a much wider readership.
Jim Finnie
Pitlochry
I MAUN congratulate Cally Phillips on her airticle Scotching the Kailyard Myth. Muckle guid wark by skeely authors is lost throu idle classification. But I wuid gang furder than Cally an also pynt oot that muckle guid wark by wummen writers is lost on the idle assumption that thay screive a lesser form o poetry. This is something the Scots Language Society is streivin tae correct wi the issue o CDs featuring some o oor best lady writers. We hae released CDs o Violet Jacob, faw screived mair than The Wild Geese, excellent thou that poem is; the sairly neglected but excellent poetry o Marion Angus; and Sheena Blackhall, the maist prolific an unnervalued o present-day writers. Ae proper an fu evaluation o her wark shuid be assessed by ane o oor major publishers.
We hae also released ae CD o Margaret Gilles Brown, faa is kent for her autobiographies but her poesy deserves wider recognition wi its astute reflections o life, similar in mony weys tae the aforemeintioned Violet Jacob.
We are also in the process o producing CDs by Mary Johnstone an Sheila Templeton. Johnstone is ae maist remarkable writer faa haes transcribed the screivins o the Brithers Grimm intil Scots alang wi her ain mast sensitive poetry. Her nem shuid be on ilka buddies’ lips. Templeton haes won aa the major poetry competitions including the McCash ran by The Herald an Glasgow University. Her poem Cottar Wife tells o a wuman faa haes tae leave the cottar hous “tho it was bonny eneuch” but it is the “blaik grun” she’ll miss. The guid earth o her gairden whaur she grew plants baith for the table an for decoration. In this wurld o displaced persons and refugees, hoo mony weemen wurldwide mourn the loss o thair wee plot o grun? Hoo potent a symbol o the preisent day does Templeton’s poem cairry wi it?
George T Watt
Dundee
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