Culture and Sport Committee
2.00pm, Monday, 20 March 2017
Makars’ Court: Proposed Additional Inscriptions
Item number Report number Executive/routine Wards All
Executive Summary
Makars’ Court at the Writers’ Museum celebrates the achievements of Scottish writers. This ongoing project to create a Scottish equivalent of Poets’ Corner at Westminster Abbey was the initiative of the former Culture and Leisure Department, in association with the Saltire Society and Lothian and Edinburgh Enterprise Ltd, as it was then known. It was always the intention that Makars’ Court would grow and develop into a Scottish national literary monument as more writers were commemorated. At its meeting on 10 March 1997 the then Recreation Committee established that the method of selecting writers for commemoration would involve the Writers’ Museum forwarding sponsorship requests for commemorating writers to the Saltire Society, who would in turn make a recommendation to the Council. The Council of the Saltire Society now recommends that two further applications be approved, to commemorate William Soutar (1898-1943) – poet and diarist, and George Campbell Hay (1915-1984) – poet.
Links
Coalition Pledges P31 Council Priorities CP6 Single Outcome Agreement SO2
Report
Makar’s Court: Proposed Additional Inscriptions
1. Recommendations
1.1 It is recommended that the Committee approves the addition of the proposed new inscriptions to Makars’ Court.
2. Background
2.1 Makars’ Court at the Writers’ Museum celebrates the achievements of Scottish writers. This ongoing project to create a Scottish equivalent of Poets’ Corner at Westminster Abbey was the initiative of the former Culture and Leisure Department, in association with the Saltire Society and Lothian and Edinburgh Enterprise Ltd, as it was then known. 2.2 Makars’ Court was officially inaugurated by the late lain Crichton Smith in August 1998. The Saltire Society selected 12 writers, ranging in date from John Barbour, who lived in the 14th century, to Sorley MacLean, who died in 1996. Each writer was commemorated by a quotation selected from his or her work which was inscribed in stone and set in the paving which leads from the Mound and the Lawnmarket approaches to the door of the Writers’ Museum. 2.3 Between October 2000 and October 2016, 26 other inscribed stones were added.
3. Main report
3.1 It was always the intention that Makars’ Court would grow and develop into a Scottish national literary monument as more writers were commemorated. At its meeting on 10 March 1997 the then Recreation Committee established that the method of selecting writers for commemoration would involve the Writers’ Museum forwarding sponsorship requests for commemorating writers to the Saltire Society, who would in turn make a recommendation to the Council. 3.2 The Council of the Saltire Society now recommends that two further applications be approved, to commemorate William Soutar (1898-1943) – poet and diarist and George Campbell Hay (1915-1984) – poet.
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William Soutar 3.3 William Soutar was born in 1898 and educated at Perth Academy before joining the wartime navy in 1916, serving in the Atlantic and North Sea. By the time he was demobilised in November 1918, he was suffering from what was to be diagnosed in 1924 as ankylosing spondylitis, an infection of the spine, too advanced to be cured. 3.4 He began to keep a diary, writing had long been part of his daily life, and determined to go to University where he quickly transferred from medical studies to undertake a degree in English. Soutar contributed to the student magazine and during this became interested in the ideas of Ezra Pound and Hugh MacDaimid, who had begun to explore ‘synthetic Scots’, compiled from dialects and from earlier writers, and its potential use a literary language in place of English. 3.5 His work developed and Soutar became a leading figure of the Scottish Literary Renaissance, a group of artists and writers who shared a deep interest in technology and modern philosophy, and concern for the nation’s languages and folk traditions. Many of this group became friends with Soutar and once he became bedridden in 1930, hundreds visited him at home. After being diagnosed with tuberculosis, he began a new volume of his journal, which he entitled The Diary of a Dying Man. He died in October 1943. 3.6 The sponsor, the Friends of William Soutar Society, state the reason for their choice as follows: ‘In his lifetime, some critics regarded Soutar as the foremost poet writing in Scots – superior to his friend MacDiarmid. He was an influential figure in the modern Scots Renaissance. His bairn rhymes have done much to keep the language alive by delighting generations of Scottish children, their appeal as fresh today as when they were first published. He left behind some hauntingly-lovely short lyrics (in Scots and English), and some fascinating (much anthologised) diaries recording his life as an invalid bedridden for 13 years.’ 3.7 The proposed inscription, and source of the quotation, are as follows; William Soutar (1898 – 1943) I thocht the hale o the world was there Sae sma in a sma room (from Ballad by William Soutar. Published in Collected Poems, edited by Hugh MacDiarmid (London: Andrew Dakers, 1948) page 432.
George Campbell Hay 3.8 George Campbell Hay was born in Renfrewshire in 1915 and brought up in Argyll. He attended Fettes School, Edinburgh on a scholarship before studying at Oxford University, though he returned frequently to Tarbert, where he developed a lifelong love of the Gaelic language and culture.
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3.9 Hay was a passionate Scottish nationalist and whilst he opposed the War he did join the British Army and served in North Africa - a region and experience which gave rise to some of his best work. 3.10 He was a multilingual poet and translated poems into several different languages including English, Scots and Gaelic, though little of his work was published in his lifetime. He was friendly with Hugh MacDiarmid and before the war was a member of the Scottish Literary Renaissance, however he was more interested in the Gaelic literary tradition and linguistic development, rather than folk tradition. 3.11 Mochtar is Dughall, an epic about a Highland soldier and a North African Arab in World War II, is perhaps his best known work, though it was never finished. Hay died in 1984. 3.12 The sponsor, Anne Artymiuk, states the reason for this choice as follows: ‘George Campbell Hay was a major Scots poet of the twentieth century, one of the few writers Scotland has had who wrote, and wrote well, in all three of Scotland’s languages. His profile has been low, probably because after World War II, which inspired some of his best work, he struggled with mental illness. The publication, in 2000, of his Collected Poems and Songs, edited by Michel Byrne has helped to make his work known to a wider audience.’ 3.13 The proposed inscription, and source of the quotation, are as follows; George Campbell Hay (1915 – 1984)
The hert’s the compass tae the place
That ye wad gae whan land ye lea.
From The Hert’s Aye the Pairt Aye... by George Campbell Hay. Published in Collected Poems and Songs of George Campbell Hay (Deòrsa Mac Iain Dheòrsa), edited by Michel Byrne (Edinburgh: EUP for The Lorimer Trust, 2000)
4. Measures of success
4.1 The installation of two additional inscribed stones in Makars’ Court.
5. Financial impact
5.1 All costs involved in designing, carving and laying the stones will be met by the sponsor. 5.2 Costs associated with the official unveiling of the stones can be contained within the 2017/18 revenue budget held by the Culture service.
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6. Risk, policy, compliance and governance impact
6.1 None identified
7. Equalities impact
7.1 None identified
8. Sustainability impact
8.1 The additional stones will add to the amenity of the immediate area. No negative impact is anticipated.
9. Consultation and engagement
9.1 Liaison with the sponsors and the Saltire Society has taken place.
10. Background reading/external references
10.1 Inscriptions at Makar’s Court, The Writer’s Museum, 29 July 2003 10.2 Makar’s Court: Proposed additional inscription, 6 December 2005 10.3 Makar’s Court: Proposed additional inscriptions, 6 June 2006 10.4 Makar’s Court: Proposed Additional inscription, 22 June 2010 10.5 Makar’s Court: Proposed Additional inscriptions, 26 April 2011 10.6 Makar’s Court: Proposed Additional inscription, 20 August 2013 10.7 Makar’s Court: Proposed Additional inscription, 22 October 2013 10.8 Makar’s Court: Proposed Additional inscription, 11 March 2014
Paul Lawrence Executive Director of Place Contact: Gillian Findlay, Curatorial and Engagement Manager E-mail: [email protected] | Tel: 0131 529 4502
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11. Links
Coalition Pledges P31 - Maintain our city’s reputation as the cultural capital of the world by continuing to support and invest in our cultural infrastructure Council Priorities CP6- A creative, cultural capital Single Outcome SO2 - Edinburgh's citizens experience improved health and Agreement wellbeing, with reduced inequalities in health Appendices None
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