Edwin Morgan

Posted by Duncan

I wis wae tae see that Edwin Morgan dee’d throu the week.  Though he wis best kent for his wark in Inglish, he pit out a fair amount o poesy i Scots an aw, maistlins owersettins.  A cheil o firsts an lests, he wis the first Glesca Laurette, first Scots Makar, an the lest o the Scots Renaissance makars (haein outleivit MacDiarmid, Garioch, Chrichton Smith, MacLean,  MacCaig, Muir an MacKay Brown).

There’s a guid biography o him ower at: http://www.contemporarywriters.com/authors/?p=authC2D9C28A1162422C12YlKnUDCFE8

 

Yin o ma favourite o Morgan’s warks is yin o his best kent Scots poems:  The Chaffinch Map of Scotland.  It’s rare the wey he teuk the monie deifferent wurds for sic an ilkaday thing tae present a pictur (leiteraly) o the richness o the sindry dialecks o Scots, shawin the colour an variation o the Lawland tung – no as a monolithic, yin-dimensional thing, but wi ruits i local communities, the leivin speech o rale fowk in aw its forms frae Gallowa tae Shetland. 

I wis gaein tae screive a blog anent the vailie o the dialecks an the variations atween thaim, but I’ll leave that for later, an jist leave ye wi a link tae The Chaffinch Map - http://bigthink.com/ideas/21382

 

Aw the best,

Dunc

 

Sang o the Week:  Iron Maiden – El Dorado

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