Yompers’ words of comfort

This year’s Cateran Yomp will be extra special, with a poem commissioned for the June 10 event by Jim Mackintosh. Gayle Ritchie finds out more

On the eve of this year’s Cateran Yomp, Jim Mackintosh will step up to the podium and take a deep breath. “Raise your sights!” he’ll declare. “The mountains are awake, waiting, all belligerent, arms folded tightly across their bracken chests.”

This is Jim’s rallying call to yompers as they prepare to set off on what could be one of the biggest challenges of their lives.

Jim, from Perth, was commissioned to write the event’s first ever poem – Griz an Cateran – by ABF The Soldiers’ Charity.

“It’s a play on the Gaelic word, griz, which is army slang for working through pain,” explained Jim.

“So it’s really a poem about working through the pain of the Cateran Yomp.

“I start the poem with the phrase, ‘raise your sights’, which is used by the army while recruiting. The poem teases and mocks initially and then asks you to show what you’re made of. “Ultimately, it’s a rousing call.” As the poem progresses, it envisages the exhausted yomper sitting by the Shee Water, doubting himself and “waiting for a fresh delivery of breath”.

But then there’s an answer: “You’re here for your own warriors.”

Jim, also poet-in-residence at St Johnstone FC, will perform Griz an Cateran at the event briefing in Blairgowrie on June 9.

He hopes that in time, it might be transformed into some kind of poetry trail along the route.

“It would be nice to leave a footprint of the poem scattered along the trail but it’s early days so we’ll need to wait and see.

“I’m in love with the Cateran Trail and everything it represents and importantly, the opportunities it is opening up for local artists and people to engage with the landscape, so to be involved with this was an easy decision for me.

“Although I have walked most of the trail I will not however be taking part in the yomp. That’s not part of the deal.”

The poetry commission came about last year after Jim contacted Clare Cooper of the Cateran’s Common Wealth initiative, an arts and heritage programme. “Jim got in touch with a brilliant idea to develop a stanza trail,” said Clare.

“We introduced him to the Soldiers’ Charity and were delighted they chose to commission a poem from him.”

Brigadier Robin Bacon, chief of staff, at ABF The Soldiers’ Charity, which benefits from the yomp, added: “When you think of poetry and the armed forces, Sassoon and Owen spring to mind. Their prose of the First World War brought home the horrors of the conflict in a beautifully creative way.

“I couldn’t at all compare that to the Cateran Yomp, as tough as it is but having this poem written especially for it is very touching.

“We are very grateful to Jim for his time, effort and creativity in supporting the charity and this great event.”

The yomp is a gruelling 54-mile hike through Perthshire and Angus on June 10.

For more details and to sign up, go to www.soldierscharity.org/yomp

Picture: Mhairi Edwards. Jim Mackintosh busy at work on his Cateran Yomp poem.