Literature in English, British Isles Commons^™

Burns And Jean Armour, Ellisland, 1788: A Letter Fragment In The Roy Collection, Patrick Scott

Studies in Scottish Literature

Describes and illustrates a two-sided fragment of Robert Burns's letter from Ellisland to his wife Jean Armour, in Muchline, from September 12, 1788, concerning her move to join him, and news for his brother Gilbert. Only four letters from Burns to Jean are now known; the main body of this letter was printed by Waddell in 1869, and was later recorded in the Honresfield Collection (now the Blavatnik-Honresfield Collection), but this section, now in the G. Ross Roy Collection at the University of South Carolina, was snipped off by the then-owner Mary MacLaughlan Nicolson for a collector before Waddell saw …

Contributors To Ssl 48:2

Studies in Scottish Literature

Brief biographical notes on contributors to the current journal issue.

Walter Scott, The Two Sicilies, And Events ‘Of Recent Date’, Graham Tulloch

Studies in Scottish Literature

Traces Walter Scott's interest in Sicily and Naples through his earlier writing up to his travels to both in 1831-1832, discusses his treatment of Neapolitan history and politics in essays in 1816 and 1829, especially his accounts of Joachim Murat (1767-1815), king of Naples from 1808-1815, and in Masaniello, leader of the popular rising in 1647-48, and suggests how these interests connect to Scott's unfinished short novel Bizarro, written in 1832 but first published in 2008, so unavailable to earlier Scott scholars.

Scott’S Reparative Land Ethic, Nigel Leask

Studies in Scottish Literature

A review essay discussing Susan Oliver's "important and convincing" book Walter Scott and the Greening of Scotland: Emergent Ecologies of a Nation (Cambridge University Press, 2021), noting Scott's land ethic and active role in managing his estate at Abbotsford and in afforestation, and suggesting that Oliver's book presents "a cumulative literary history of Scotland’s ecologies," so that Scott's poetry and novels "assume a new relevance for 21st century readers".

Esther Inglis, Octonaries, Upon The Vanitie And Inconstancie Of The World, Edited From Folger Ms V.A.91, Jamie Reid Baxter, Georgianna Ziegler

Studies in Scottish Literature

This article provides the first-ever printed text of the poem-sequence discussed in the preceding article, Octonaries, upon the Vanitie and Inconstancie of the Worlde (1600), by the Franco-Scottish poet and calligrapher Esther Inglis (1571-1624). The text given here has been transcribed from one of two manuscripts of the Octonaries in the Folger Library, MS V.a.91. Variant readings from two further manuscripts, Folger MS V.a.92, and New York Public Library Spencer Coll. MS. 14, along with some glosses, are given in the following section. NOTE: The text here now (June 13) incorporates a few final editors' corrections inadvertently omitted …

Appendices To Inglis, Octonaries: Titles And Dedications From Other Mss, Mss Containing The ‘G.D.’ And ‘Velde’ Sonnets, Who Was ‘G.D.’?, Jamie Reid Baxter

Studies in Scottish Literature

Three Appendices to the preceding article on Esther Inglis's Octonaries: (1) transcribe the Titles and Dedications in other manuscripts; (2) record the five MSS containing the ‘G.D.’ and ‘Velde’ Sonnets discussed in the article; and (3) review possibilities for the identity of 'G.D.', proposing that it was George Douglas, a gifted vernacular poet and translator of Boethius.NOTE: the current file (August 9 2023) includes further minor corrections. Please refresh your browser if you downloaded a previous version. SSL Ed.

Esther Inglis, Octonaries: Textual Notes And Glosses, Jamie Reid Baxter, Georgianna Ziegler

Studies in Scottish Literature

These notes record variant readings from two further manuscripts of Esther Inglis's Octonaries, Folger MS V.a.92, and New York Public Library Spencer Coll. MS. 14, collated against the text transcribed in the preceding item, Folger Library, MS V.a.91. The notes also indicate the places where the order of the octonaries varies between manuscripts and also include a few glosses on Scots words likely to be unfamiliar to non-Scottish students or scholars. NOTE: the current version (June 25 2023) incorporates minor corrections. Please refresh your browser if you downloaded an earlier version. SSL Ed.

Robert Watson’S Lectures At St. Andrews: Logic, Rhetoric And Metaphysics, Rosaleen Greene-Smith Keefe

Studies in Scottish Literature

Examines the contributions to rhetoric of Robert Watson (1730?-1781), Professor of Logic, Rhetoric, and Metaphysics at the University of St. Andrews from
1756-1778, and Principal from 1778-1781, based on surviving manuscript sources at St Andrews, and demonstrates the philosophic diversity in rhetorical theory at this time, showing differences among the Scottish literati on the epistemology of language and the origin of grammar, identifying some contrasts and connections between Watson and his near contemporaries Adam Smith, Hugh Blair, and George Campbell, and suggesting his distinctive place in the development of 18th century rhetoric and the history of English studies.

A New Study Of Cunninghame Graham, Carla Sassi

Studies in Scottish Literature

Surveys the steady growth of interest in the Scottish fin-de-siècle writer, adventurer, socialist M.P., and nationalist leader R. B. Cunninghame Graham (1852-1936), and reviews Lachlan Munro's "timely and important study" R. B. Cunninghame Graham and Scotland: Party, Prose, and Political Aesthetic (Edinburgh University Press, 2022), judging it an "inspiring and innovative investigation," and suggesting that Cunninghame Graham's "construction and performance of his identities as a writer, adventurer, politician and activist should indeed be seen as an artistic expression in its own right."

‘Scoto-Shamanistic’: The Collected Works Of Kenneth White, Richie Mccaffery

Studies in Scottish Literature

A review-essay discussing the work and influence of the expatriate Scottish poet and cultural theorist Kenneth White, based on vols 1-2 of the new Edinburgh University Press edition of White's Collected Works, edited by Cairns Craig (2021, paperback 2023), placing White in a line of Scottish polymath internationalist writers, from Buchanan and Urquhart, through Miller and Carlyle, to Geddes and MacDiarmid.

Books Received And Noted, Patrick Scott

Studies in Scottish Literature

Brief reviews or notices of some recent books about Scottish literature, Scottish writers, and related topics.

Female Inheritance And Forged Documents: John Hardyng’S Use Of Scottish Materials In His Chronicle, Ryoko Harikae

Studies in Scottish Literature

In his Chronicle of John Hardyng (1st version, 1457; 2nd version, 1465), Hardyng shows that Scottish kings did homage to English kings, adding a map and an itinerary of Scotland. In support, Hardyng forged several documents, to prove Scotland's vassal status, which he submitted to the English government with his Chronicle. Hardyng's motive for the forgeries, their function or how they relate to the Chronicle text, or his intent in incorporating Scottish materials. This paper argues that Hardyng's description of Scotland, combined with his forged documents, was his response to finding Scottish historical materials contradicting his claim for English …

The Cultural Context Of The Aberdeen Candlemas Play, Roderick J. Lyall

Studies in Scottish Literature

Among the lost plays of medieval Scotland the Aberdeen Candlemas play is one of the most intriguing. Our knowledge of its content derives principally from two lists, dating from 1442 and 1505, dividing the roles between the burgh’s various gilds, although the fact that there was some form of dramatic element rather than merely a procession appears to be confirmed by the discovery in the Dean of Guild’s accounts for 1470-71 of a payment of 16d. to “ye men ye maid scafald to ye candilmes play.” This paper focuses on the presence in the cast of The Three Kings of …

Preface To Ssl 48.2, Patrick Scott, Tony Jarrells

Studies in Scottish Literature

Discusses the range of periods the journal covers, introduces current contents, pays brief tribute to the Hume scholar Donald T. Siebert and the Burns collector Frank R. Shaw, and alerts readers to editorial and publishing changes to be announced in the coming year.

Anonymity With Intent? 'We Lordis Hes Chosin A Chiftane Mervellus', Janet Hadley Williams

Studies in Scottish Literature

This paper considers an anonymous, untitled poem, opening “We lordis hes chosin a chiftane mervellus,” known in only one text, in the Bannatyne Manuscript (fols 78^v–79^r), among “ ballatis full of wisdome and moralitie.” Its enigmatic nature and place among the moral ‘ballatis’ have gone largely unstudied. Focus on the author’s identity (with William Dunbar seen as likely) has excluded the interesting question of possible deliberate anonymity. The poet’s Franco-Scots linguistic agility, and careful play of political interests (Scottish, French and English) are striking, the more so because, unusually, “We lordis” can be dated with some …

Introduction: Scottish Cosmopolitanism At The Fin De Siècle, Matthew Creasy

Studies in Scottish Literature

Introduces the topic of the special issue, reviews recent accounts of cosmopolitanism and scholarship on the Scottish fin de Siècle, and discusses how the essays that follow contribute to revaluation of Scottish literary culture in this period.

Series Editors' Preface To Ssl 48.1, Patrick Scott, Tony Jarrells

Studies in Scottish Literature

A brief introduction with thanks to the guest editors, information about the cover illustration for the print issue, by John Duncan (1866-1945), and a note of plans for future issues.

Contested Cosmopolitanism: William And Elizabeth A. Sharp’S Glasgow Herald Reviews Of The Paris Salons 1884-1900, Michael Shaw

Studies in Scottish Literature

Discusses William Sharp's attempt as a fin-de-siecle art critic to accommodate local particularism and national identity within his "outsider" cosmopolitanism, through his contributions to The Evergreen and the regular reviews he and his wife Elizabeth A. Sharp wrote of the Paris Salons for the Glasgow Herald, unsigned but identifiable through their correspondence, and argues that these reviews show how "the Sharps resisted the growing tendency to see the particular and the cosmopolitan as irreconcilable opposites."

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The Influence Of Japan And India In The Circle Of Patrick Geddes, Murdo Macdonald

Studies in Scottish Literature

Discusses the influence of Japanese art in Evergreen contributions by E.A. Hornel and Charles Mackie, the influence of Patrick Geddes's ideas in Japan, and Geddes's links with the early 20th century revival of interest in Hinduism and Indian art.

Small Nations Writ Large: Notions Of Cosmopolitanism In Fin-De-Siècle Scotland And Flanders, Koenraad Claes

Studies in Scottish Literature

Compares relations between cosmopolitanism and nationalism in Scotland and Belgium, through the Scottish critic William Sharp's response to the "Belgian Renascence," to the magazine La Jeune Belgique, to Flemish authors writing in French (notably the playwrights Van Lerberghe and Maeterlinck, the novelist Eekhoud, and the poet Verhaeren), contrasting that movement with the later pro-Dutch-language magazine Van Nu en Straks, and illustrating how the local and global overlapped in the rivalling cosmopolitanism of fin-de-siècle Belgium and the late-19th-century avant-garde.

Andrew Lang’S Discursive Cosmopolitanism In Longman’S Magazine, Linda K. Hughes

Studies in Scottish Literature

Discusses the distinctive form and influence of Andrew Lang's series "At the Sign of the Ship," in Longman's Magazine, and explores Lang's range of Scottish and cosmopolitan references and perspectives.

Unionism, Nationalism, Cosmopolitanism: Ruraidh Erskine Of Marr At The Fin De Siècle, Alex Murray

Studies in Scottish Literature

Examines the works of Ruraidh Erskine of Marr within the context of fin-de-siècle literary and political cultures in Scotland and England, arguing that his journey from conservative unionist to radical nationalist (and back again) challenges existing models for reading cosmopolitanism.

Contributors To Ssl 48.1

Studies in Scottish Literature

No abstract provided.

The Cosmopolitan Evergreen And The Global Digital, Lorraine Janzen Kooistra

Studies in Scottish Literature

Examines how Patrick Geddes’s The Evergreen: A Northern Seasonal used the affordances of fin-de-siècle print culture to imbricate the regional and the transnational, and shows how the magazine’s digital remediation on Yellow Nineties 2.0 makes its cosmopolitan vision newly accessible to global audiences today.

Locating Scottish Cosmopolitanism In The Digital Archive, Alison Chapman

Studies in Scottish Literature

A reassessment of late nineteenth century Scottish cosmopolitan poets as represented in Digital Victorian Periodical Poetry (https://dvpp.uvic.ca/ ), focussing on the poems of John Davidson, William Sharp, Francis Annesley Brodie-Innes, and Violet Tweedale, and on the Scottish periodicals Good Words and Chambers’s (Edinburgh) Journal.

Cosmopolitanism And The Scottish Working-Class Writer: John Parkinson/Yehya-En-Nasr And Islam In Ayrshire, Kirstie Blair

Studies in Scottish Literature

Explores the grassroots cosmopolitan and international literary interests of Scottish working-class writers, through the writing of the Scottish poet and convert to Islam John Parkinson or "Yehya-en-Nasr" (1874-1918), in the Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald, in the monthly The Islamic World and the weekly newspaper The Crescent, as a journalist in Rangoon, and in book form, notably his Lays of Love and War (Ardrossan, n.d.), arguing that Parkinson's "Muslim cosmopolitanism" and his local Ayrshire identity and contexts were inextricably intertwined.

Introduction: The Alabama Conference On Medieval & Renaissance Scottish Literature: Reframing And Mediation, Tricia A. Mcelroy, David Parkinson

Studies in Scottish Literature

Introduces the broader theme of the 16th International Conference on Medieval & Renaissance Scottish Language and Literature, held at the University of Alabama in 2021, and comments briefly on the four papers that follow.

Preface To Ssl 47.2, Patrick Scott, Tony Jarrells

Studies in Scottish Literature

Introduces the issue contents and briefly describes plans for forthcoming issues, and notes the recent deaths of two longtime SSL contributors, Henry L. Fulton (1935-2021) and Edward J. Cowan (1944-2022).

Robert Burns’S Life On The Stage: A Bibliography Of Dramatic Works, 1842–2019, Thomas Keith

Studies in Scottish Literature

This article traces the changing history of how the Scottish poet Robert Burns has been portrayed on stage, both in Scotland and elsewhere, discussing the the issues playwrights have faced and some of the approaches they have used, and provides an annotated chronological bibliography of ninety plays about Burns's life written or first staged between 1842 and 2019, with information on first known performance and on any published versions or known manuscript or typescript, and with brief notes where information is available on the style of the play and critical reaction.

Scott's Last Words, Peter Garside

Studies in Scottish Literature

Walter Scott’s dying words as recounted by J. G. Lockhart, widely accepted by in the Victorian period, have since been seen as largely fabricated. In 1938, H. J. C. Grierson blamed Lockahart’s “pious myth” on a “lady relative” of Scott’s anxious to deflect future detractors who might vilify Scott as irreligious. The concerened lady, unnamed by Grierson, was Mrs Harriet Scott of Harden, one of Scott’s first confidants, early adviser on literary matters, and later nearby neighbour at Mertoun House. Her positive influence on Scott, still underestimated, is hardly that of the “evangelical lady” featured regularly in post-Grierson Scott biographies. …