100 Favourite Scottish Poems

STEWART CONN was born in Glasgow, grew up in Ayrshire and for many years has lived in Edinburgh shere, until 1992 he was based as the head of BBC Scotland's radio drama department. In 2002 he was appointed the capital's first makar, or poet laureate. His poetry has been widely anthologised and translated. He has received awards from, amonc others, the Scottish Arts Council, the Society of Authors and the Poetry Book Society. Besides regularly appearing at the Edinburgh International Book Festival he has participated in poetry festivals from Aberdeen to Zagreb. His latest poetry collections are 'Ghosts at Cockcrow', Bloodaxe Books (ISBN 1852246863) and 'The Loving-Cup', Mariscat Press (ISBN 0946588430).

• Poems marked with an asterisk are those selected byBBC Scotland listeners as their favourite Scottish poems.Acknowledgements Introduction1A Man’s a Man for A’ That* Robert Burns2Landscape with One Figure Douglas Dunn3Scotland*Alastair Reid4The Bonnie Earl of MorayAnon5Memorial of St ColumbaAnon6Columba to GodJohn Purser7Scotch BrothRobert Crawford8The PuddockJohn M. Caie9At Linton KirkRon Butlin10EttrickLady John Scott11Beachcomber*George Mackay Brown12O Waly, WalyAnon13Young HarperValerie Gillies14The Laird o’ CockpenLady Nairne15A Winter MorningGerry Cambridge16Ailsa CraigGerald Mangan17Sir Patrick SpensAnon18Luss VillageIain Crichton Smith19A Scented GardenTessa Ransford20Gollop’sAnna Crowe21Mary’s Song*Marion Angus22Sarah: Fed UpJanet Paisley23Macpherson’s RantAnon24Did ye see me?Robert Garioch25The Wild Geese*Violet Jacob26On a Cat, AgeingSir Alexander Gray27The Coming of the Wee Malkies* Stephen Mulrine28View of Scotland/Love Story*Liz Lochhead29Proud MaisieSir Walter Scott30The StrangerElizabeth Burns31Baby in the DaffodilsGillian K. Ferguson32Scottish PrideJoe Corrie33Cuddle Doon*Alexander Anderson34The Flowers of the ForestJean Elliot35House with Poplar TreesJames Aitchison36The man who wanted to hug cows Jim Carruth37from Auld ReikieRobert Fergusson38SeagullBrian McCabe39Gin I was God*Charles Murray40from Let us all be Unhappy on Sunday: A Lyric for Saturday Night Charles, Lord Neaves41The Voyeur*Tom Leonard42To Alexander GrahamW. S. Graham43The Deluge*W. D. Cocker44Counting SheepHamish Brown45The Shepherd’s HutAndrew Young46A Manifesto for MSPsJames Robertson47HatsMuriel Spark48HatsAngela McSeveney49The Land o’ CakesW.N. Herbert50At the PeatsAlasdair Maclean51Aunt Julia*Norman MacCaig52Glasgow SabbathTom Buchan53The Tryst*William Soutar54Canedolia: an off-concrete Scotch fantasia* Edwin Morgan55The Chartres of GowrieDon Paterson56A joy ta beholdChristine De Luca57ApplicationDiana Hendry58AppointmentHamish Whyte59The Twa CorbiesAnon60A Small White DogAndrew Greig61A Night in Stoer Lighthouse Ian McDonough62The Old FishermanGeorge Campbell Hay63Childhood*Edwin Muir64Cragsman’s WidowRobert Rendall65SongAlan Spence66All Wemen are Guid: equivocal verses Anon67‘Intérieur jaune et bleu’Jim C. Wilson68The Eye of the BeholderJames McGonigal69To a LadyeWilliam Dunbar70from To His Mistress*James Graham,Marquis of Montrose71In my CountryJackie Kay72The Spik o’ the Lan’Sheena Blackhall73Tundra’s EdgeJohn Burnside74The Watergaw*Hugh MacDiarmid75Warming her PearlsCarol Ann Duffy76The Maid’s RoomDilys Rose77The world is busy, KatieRichard Price78CakeHelena Nelson79The Jeelie Piece Song*Adam Macnaughton80Lament for a Lost Dinner Ticket Margaret Hamilton81MilkDonny O’Rourke82The MotherJoseph Lee83Hallaig*Sorley Maclean84TimetableKate Clanchy85The Two SistersAnon86Crabs: TireeTom Pow87Behind Your EyesBrian Johnstone88The Bewteis of the Fute-Ball Anon89A Fairy TaleJohn Glenday90Lernin*Alison Flett91The Freedom Come-All-YeHamish Henderson92Corpus Christi CarolJames Hogg93The Queen of Sheba*Kathleen Jamie94Departure and Departure and…George Bruce95CapernaumLewis Spence96Haymarket SunsetAngus Calder97from Of the Day EstivalAlexander Hume98The Fly-tier’s DreamNorman Kreitman99To S.R. Crockett*Robert Louis Stevenson100The Big Hooley: 1st July 1999Nancy SomervilleNotes

Both wit and wisdom, and that fusion of the two which can touch the heart as well as the mind, distinguishes the work selected by Stewart Conn for his anthology 100 Favourite Scottish Poems (Luath Press and Scottish Poetry Library, £7.99). This lovely little book ranges from Dunbar to Douglas Dunn, taking in just about all the major and most of the minor Scottish poets of the centuries by means of their most memorable writing. THE SCOTSMANIt is... a highly varied collection and one that should fulfill Conn's hopes of whetting the reader's appetite... this is both a taster and a volume of substance. THE HERALD GUIDEa richly diverse collection of poems in English, Scots, Gaelic and Shetlandic (…) They reflect not only the many traditions on which Scottish poetry has drawn, but also the range and variety of contemporary Scottish poetry, which forms the bulk of the collection. NORTHWORDS NOWThis book might be better called 50 Favourites and 50 Surprises, and that’s no bad thing! SCOTTISH ARTS COUNCIL