A look at old and new Scottish literature as...

your slender neck quoted between two thumbs; and beautiful, with creamy skin, and tumbling auburn hair, those devastating eyes; and have each lovely foot held in a bigger hand and kissed; then be watched till morning as you sleep, so perfect, vulnerable and young you hurt his blood.

And given sanctuary.

But not betrayed.

Not driven to an ecstasy of loathing of yourself; ...

Where did it end? A ladder. Heavy tools. A steady hand. And me, alone all night up there,

Bent on revenge.

...

I sawed and pulled and hacked.

I wanted silence back.

…

- Carol Ann Duffy

There are those in Scotland, and without, who pounce on every new opportunity or excuse to re-raise the question of Scottish independence. The vote was taken and the separatists lost. But then came the traumatic, unexpected exit from the European

Union. And then came the epoch-ending death of a legendary queen. It was felt that these occasions weakened the notion of a United Kingdom.

At least this latest cry provided an opportunity to revisit Scottish literature. Like Scotland itself, this literature has had a proud history and unquestioned strength. Today, one hears very little of Scottish poetry, which does not seem to have existence or legitimacy outside of British poetry. To make things worse, the term used is English poetry, which subsumes that which comes from Scotland.

Yet, Robert Burns, who is among the best loved of Scottish poets is mostly famous for “Auld Lang Syne”. That poem, adapted by Burns from the oral poetry of the folk in eighteenth century Scotland, is sung by the whole world every New Year’s Eve. The old Scottish ballads contribute extraordinarily to the strength of English literature in which the Scots language is a major component.

That historical background, however, does not give much currency to contemporary Scottish poetry, and the new literature from that country is a far cry from the old. Most of the contemporary writers are little known outside of Scotland, and few hold a foremost place in British poetry known to the world. The outstanding exception is Carol Ann Duffy, who was appointed British Poet Laureate by Queen Elizabeth.

In fact, she holds the distinction of being the first woman and the first Scot to be appointed Poet Laureate, succeeding Andrew Motion in 2009 and succeeded by Simon Armitage in 2019. She was further decorated by the Queen and is now Dame Carol Ann Duffy. Her long, narrative poem “Mrs Quasimodo” belongs to the wave of new poetry coming out of Scotland. This verse is noted by its language – not the old Scots, but modern colloquial and popular English. Subjects and treatment are also modernist and often radical, as can be seen in the unexpurgated original text of this selection from Duffy.

The two other samples of Scottish verse printed here are from the old traditional ballads and from Burns. They help to show the historical march of Scottish poetry. The first is from traditional oral literature, and is a tragic tale from stories about Mary Queen of Scots, who had four ladies-in-waiting, each named Mary. The other is one of Burns’s best known poems and is written in Scottish dialect.