Sir Walter Scott

In 1814, Jane Austen remarked, "Walter Scott has no business to write novels, especially good ones, -it is not fair-He has Fame and Profit enough as a Poet, and should not be taking the bread out of other people's mouths, -I do not like him and do not mean to like Waverley if I can help it-but I fear I must."
There are others like Mark Twain who apparently did not want to like the works of Scott, but their correspondence indicates they read his works avidly. His works obviously could not maintain the enormous popularity they enjoyed when Scott was alive, but new editions continue to find printers and critical works continue to have Scott as their focus. Next year will be the 200th anniversary of the first printing of "Lady of the Lake."
Should we read his works or allow them to fade into the mists of time?

Jessie Kesson

Jessie Kesson wrote for the Scots Magazine with the assistance of Neil Gunn and she also produced Women’s Hour on BBC radio. Her writing reflects the hardship of her own life, but the Daily Telegraph wrote, “Miss Kesson writes beautifully, her strong, delicate prose full of poetry and humour.

She wrote The White Bird Passes in 1958. Even though this novel has been adapted for television and Scottish poet has encouraged all to “beg, borrow or steal this book,” it gathers dust on library shelves.

Read this fine piece of literature before the bookwraith claims another victim.

The Lament of Flora McDonald

The Lament of Flora McDonald is one of Hogg’s most popular Jacobite songs and is featured on the University of Stirling’s research site studying James Hogg. This song was “first produced as a song sheet and later included in the Second Series of his Jacobite Relics in 1821. The tune and its accompaniment were written by Niel Gow junior, who apparently told Hogg that the melody was an ‘ancient Skye air’. Hogg is said to have written new lyrics for it, even though Gow provided original Gaelic verses, and Hogg was very proud of this song, noting in 1831: ‘I could hardly believe my senses that I had made so good a song without knowing it’. Its popularity is evident in a number of independent song sheets throughout the 1820s and ’30s. It also appeared in George Thomson’s Select Melodies of Scotland (1822), in The Border Garland (1828) and in Songs by the Ettrick Shepherd in 1831 where he calls it ‘Flora Macdonald’s Farewell’”. This quote is from the University site at http://www.jameshogg.stir.ac.uk/cd.php

and has MP3 files available for free download.

Can you find this song elsewhere? Your local library? Can you find it on Amazon.com? Will this song only be heard while this study of James Hogg endures then fade into the mist of time? Listen to this song and share it with your friends or the bookwraith will claim another victim.

The Songs of James Hogg

In 2005 Professor Emeritus Douglas Mack, at the University of Stirling and Dr Kirsteen McCue of Scottish Literature at the University of Glasgow were awarded a major research grant of just over £150,000 from the Arts and Humanities Research Council. This grant is allowing Dr McCue, and Dr Janette Currie also of the University of Stirling, to undertake a major project on the songs of James Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd.

This is alot of money to preserve the Jacobite songs of Hogg. Will this preserve them for generations to come? Have you seen any results from this grant? Some of the songs of Hogg's contemporary, Sir Walter Scott, are a part of our daily lives but we are not aware of his influence. Can you hum a tune of Hogg's?

James Hogg

James Hogg was born near Ettrick, Scotland in 1770. In 1824, he wrote The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner which Ian Crichton Smith considers, “a towering Scottish novel, one of the very greatest of all Scottish books.” This metaphysical thriller is the first psychological novel written a century before the genre became popular. It is a terrifying account of a psychopathic killer who abuses the Calvinist doctrine of predestination wherein God’s elect can do no wrong. Are God’s elect to live as they please as this character does?
Read the book if you can find it. Is it in your public library? It’s not in mine (I have my own copy, however). This is what happens to books when no one reads them. The Scottish literature and Scottish culture fades into the mist. One more book for the BookWraith.

Founding Brothers

Founding Brothers by Joseph Ellis gives a flesh and bone picture of some of the mythical individuals who laid the foundations of this country. I am concerned about the fact that no mention of the Scottish heritage of individuals like Alexander Hamilton is mentioned. Alexander Hamilton is one of the most influential Scots in American history. His father was Scottish and he himself was born in the British colony of Nevis, located in the West Indies. One of the main authors of the Federalist essays - instrumental in the forming of the Constitution - he became the first US Secretary of the Treasury. Hamilton developed an impressive and effective financial plan that created immediate faith in the government of a new nation. He is mentioned frequently when Tartan Day is celebrated. However, Tartan Day seems to be fading fast in the Scottish-American community as a cause for celebration. If books by Scottish authors are not read, they will disappear from the library shelves (Romance novels may be a pleasant diversion, but there are books of greater influence available). If those books disappear, new authors may be unaware of the Scottish heritage that influenced individuals like Alexander Hamilton.

Mollie Hunter

Mollie Hunter is, as I see her, Scotland's finest storyteller. I chose her for my bookwraith because her books sit on the library shelves gathering dust. Her books run the age gamut of children's fantasy to historical fiction for adults. Her fantasy books are rooted in Celtic folklore and the historical books bring to life Scotland's past. A Sound of Chariots and I'll Go My Own Way are my favorite young adult books. What are yours? Check them out at your library or they will be discarded and disappear into a Highland mist.

Makars

King James I belongs to a group of poets called Makars and described as Scots Chaucerians. This description is often criticized as denying the original nature of their poetry. These poets from Scotland were also influenced by earlier poets from Scotland like Barbour and also the courtly literature of France.
Since James Fenimore Cooper, Washington Irving and Nathaniel Hawthorne were influenced by Sir Walter Scott, perhaps they could be categorized as American Waverleys. ?

Rhyme Royal

James wrote The Kingis Quair in a rhyme scheme ababbcc which became know as rhyme royal even though he was not the first to use it. He wrote, "I recommend my buk in lynis sevin" but he most likely learned this scheme from Chaucer or the French.
With so much of the contemporary poetry written in free verse, does the use of traditional rhyme schemes seem more restrictive or is there just a lack of discipline in the creative skills of modern poets?

Joan Beaufort

King James' imprisonment must not have been too confining since he met Joan Beaufort while in prison. He married her in 1423 a few year's after his release and they had eight children.

Dream Literature

Boethius’ Consolation of Philosophy and his use of a dream vision or dream allegory greatly influenced medieval literature. King James I used this format for his Kingis Quair. However, the love relationship in the work was focused on a personal marital relationship, quite different than the idealized love found in most other works due to such poets as Guillaume de Lorris. His work also was predominantly autobiographical not only because of his descriptions of his relationship with his wife, but also his imprisonment by the English.

Cawdor

One step back for a moment, if you please. For those who like that Scottish play and things Scottish, read Liza Campbell's A Charmed Life: Growing up in Macbeth's Castle. It is a very interesting read and rife with history (recent and ancient).

Kingis Quair

Our next book of influence will be King James I's Kingis Quair. Leaders throughout history have been concerned with assassination in one form or the other. In 1423, poison was the weapon of choice. The unicorn seems to be a useful substitute for a body guard since he refers to "The lufare vnicorne, That voidis venum with his euoure horne." (The friendly unicorn that renders venom harmless with his ivory horn). This fabulous beast can be seen in the Unicorn Hunt tapestries in the Metropolitan Museum in New York.

Unicorns are referenced in many ancient texts by authors of reliable reputation. Did they really exist or are they only from the world of mythology and fantasy?

Superstition

Before closing the posts on Macbeth, I would like to cite a couple sources that give a reason for the theatrical superstitions on the Scottish Play, here is the second:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatrical_superstitions

Shakespeare's play Macbeth is said to be cursed, so actors avoid saying its name (the euphemism "The Scottish Play" is used instead). Actors also avoid even quoting the lines from Macbeth inside a theatre, particularly the Witches incantations. Outside of a theatre the play can be spoken of openly. If an actor speaks the name Macbeth in a theatre, he is required to leave the theatre building, spin around three times, spit, curse, and then knock to be allowed back in. There are several possible origins for this superstition. One is the assumption that the song of the Weird Sisters is an actual spell that will bring about evil spirits. Another is that there is more swordplay in it than most other Shakespeare plays, and the more swordplay must be rehearsed and performed, the more chances there are for someone to get injured. Yet another option is that the play is often run by theatres that are in debt and looking to increase patronage.

Macbeth's financial boost

Before closing the posts on Macbeth, I would like to cite a couple sources that give a reason for the theatrical superstitions on the Scottish Play, here is the first:
http://www.angelfire.com/fl3/Defymcbeth/Super2.html

The superstition actually began in the old days of stock companies, which would struggle at all times to remain in business. Frequently, near the end of a season a stock company would realize that it was not going to break even and, in an attempt to boost ticket sales and attendance, would announce production of a crowd favorite . . . MacBeth.


If times were particularly bad, even 'the bard's play' would not be enough to save the company, therefore, MacBeth often presaged the end of a company's season, and would frequently be a portent of the company's demise.Therefore, the fear of MacBeth was generally the fear of bad business and of an entire company being put out of work.

Biblical Influences

L. Mark wrote on the "Biblical Influences on William Shakespeare's Macbeth" at http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/126501/biblical_influences_on_william_shakespeares.html?page=2&cat=38
He states, "It is interesting to note the many ways one can find parallel between the story of the expulsion and Macbeth. The serpent tells Eve that eating from the tree will make her "like God," (Gen. 3:5), and Macbeth's sin is for the sake of becoming king. (Lady Macbeth, in fact, is enticed by her husband's letter, telling her that she will be queen. That is what inspires her to murder Duncan.) Adam's sin is often believed to be the cause of all suffering and evil in the world, and Macbeth's regicide is the beginning of Scotland's misery. The most recognizable similarity is probably the fact that it is the woman who has tempted the man to sin. "
Do you see the similarities?