Name/TitleVoices Frae The City O Trees and Ither Voices Frae Nearbye
MakerRobertson, Edith Anne
About this objectSlim paperback book titled 'Voices Frae The City O Trees and Ither Voices Frae Nearbye' by Edith Anne Robertson.
Partly digitised (7 pages, including front pages, preface and contents)
Medium and MaterialsOrganic, paper
MeasurementsH: 221 x W: 145 x D: 5 mm
Date Made1955
Period1950s
Place MadeScotland, Edinburgh
PublisherM. Macdonald
Publication Date1955
Publication PlaceScotland, Edinburgh
Subject and Association Descriptionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_Anne_Robertson:
Edith Anne Robertson (10 Jan 1883 – 31 Jan 1973) was a Scottish poet who wrote in both the English and Scots tongues.
Edith Anne Robertson's work reflects her strong belief in Christianity and her interest in the culture and language of the north east of Scotland. In 1930 she published Carmen Jesu Nazereni, a verse version of the gospels. She also published a life of Francis Xavier. Later she published two collections of poems by Walter de la Mare and Gerard Manley Hopkins that she had translated into the Scots language. She corresponded with many literary figures including Marion Angus, David Daiches, Flora Garry, Nan Shepherd, Douglas Young and Samuel Beckett. Her poem The Scots Tongue (1955) gives her thoughts on the language that she loved:
Gin I'm a livan tongue loe me;
Saebins we'll hae mair bairns;
Gin I'm a deid tongue nae call for keenin,
Ye'll find me wi the gods
Ayont the Reaveries o Time:
Yon are the gowden tongues!
In 1953 Douglas Young wrote to Edith Anne Robertson of her Voices that it was "a truly astonishing challenge to those who think the Lallans incapable of conveying thought (as E. Muir incautiously maintained in 'Scott and Scotland') and incapable of expressing subtleties of feeling (as MacCraig too often assents). Moreover it does fill the gap I emphasised (in my Nelson anthology), when I remarked on the comparative lack of mystical verse in Scots." A critic wrote in the Scottish international Review that "in verse, Edith Anne Robertson used a supple and graceful Scots, carrying a large vocabulary with apparent ease in well-varied metres."
Subject and Association Keywordswomen's writing & literature
Subject and Association Keywordspoetry & verse
Named CollectionGlasgow Women's Library
Object TypeBook
Object numberGWL-2023-93-4
Copyright LicenceAll rights reserved