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Full-Text Articles in Literature in English, British Isles

Sir Walter Scott's The Monastery And The Representation Of Religious Belief, Chad T. May Dec 2015

Sir Walter Scott's The Monastery And The Representation Of Religious Belief, Chad T. May

Studies in Scottish Literature

Examines Sir Walter Scott's novel The Monastery, written while he was also working on his better-known medieval novel Ivanhoe, and discusses its representation of the historical religious transition of Scotland from a Catholic to a Protestant country; focuses especially on Scott's treatment of the supernatural, in the figure of the White Lady, and argues that Scott uses her to allow representation of a personal religious experience or religious vision that otherwise fitted uneasily with his generally secular project for historical representation in fiction; and concludes by briefly sketching the significance of this atypical, transitional novel for understanding religious …


Changing Times: A Post-Indyref View From Italy, Carla Sassi Dec 2015

Changing Times: A Post-Indyref View From Italy, Carla Sassi

Studies in Scottish Literature

Discusses the responses of Italian university students to the Scottish Referendum of 2014, briefly surveys the history and recent development of Scottish literary studies in Italian universities, and comments on teaching the novels of Walter Scott to Italian readers.


Scottish Writers, American Students: A View From Virginia, David E. Latane Dec 2015

Scottish Writers, American Students: A View From Virginia, David E. Latane

Studies in Scottish Literature

Discusses cultural (and statistical) similarities and differences between Scotland and Virginia, and explores how these affect the response and interest of university students to studying Scottish literature, especially contemporary literature, and to a summer course taught in Glasgow.


Assimilation, Hybridity, And Identity: A Visitor During Indyref, Evan Gottlieb Dec 2015

Assimilation, Hybridity, And Identity: A Visitor During Indyref, Evan Gottlieb

Studies in Scottish Literature

Recounts the experience of growing up as a Jewish kid among Scottish-Canadians and of being in Scotland during the Referendum in 2014, expressing admiration for the level and character of informed debate among voters.


John Stuart Blackie's Altavona: A Late Victorian Reaction To The Highland Clearances, Brooke Mclaughlin Mitchell Dec 2015

John Stuart Blackie's Altavona: A Late Victorian Reaction To The Highland Clearances, Brooke Mclaughlin Mitchell

Studies in Scottish Literature

Reviews the career of John Stuart Blackie (1809-1895), poet, professor successively of humanity in Aberdeen and of Greek in Edinburgh, and a tireless advocate for the Scottish Highlands and Celtic culture; sketches his growing criticism of Highland landlords and the eviction of crofters from Scottish estates, in relation to more recent perspectives; and discusses his successive literary treatments of the Clearances in his "Highland Sonnets," his long poem "The Highlander's Lament," and, most fully, in his 'novel' or mixed-genre prose work Altavona: Fact and Fiction from My Life in the Highlands (1882), commenting also on Blackie's revisions to the book …


John Byrne's The Slab Boys: Technicolored Hell-Hole In A Town Called Malice, William Donaldson Dec 2015

John Byrne's The Slab Boys: Technicolored Hell-Hole In A Town Called Malice, William Donaldson

Studies in Scottish Literature

Presents a detailed discussion and appreciation of the Slab Boys tetralogy, a sequence of four plays by the Scottish playwright and painter John Byrne, beginning with The Slab Boys (1978), focused on a group of apprentices in the color-mixing room of a Paisley carpet-factory in the 1950s, and then tracing the divergence of their lives through three later plays, The Loveliest Night of the Year (1979, later titled Cuttin' A Rug), Still Life (1982), and Nova Scotia (2008); examines Byrne's characterization, "excoriatingly destructive wit," and "rambunctiously demotic language"; analyzes the tetralogy's continuing major themes of the relation between art …


'Singing Of Psalms Of Which I Could Never Get Enough': Labouring Class Religion And Poetry In The Cambuslang Revival Of 1741, Elspeth Jajdelska Dec 2015

'Singing Of Psalms Of Which I Could Never Get Enough': Labouring Class Religion And Poetry In The Cambuslang Revival Of 1741, Elspeth Jajdelska

Studies in Scottish Literature

Describes and discusses the nature and uses of poetry by Scottish labouring-class participants in the revival at Cambuslang, near Glasgow, in 1741, drawing on the manuscript account of the revival collected by the parish minister, William McCulloch; setting the poems in the context of recent scholarly reconsideration of 17th and 18th century Scottish religious culture; relating the poems to the Scottish use of metrical psalms in kirk services and domestic devotions; and commenting in detail on poems by Alexander Bilsland and George Tassie, and a report on religious poetry reading by Ann Wylie.


Ossianic Telegraphy: Bardic Networks And Imperial Relays, Eric Gidal Dec 2015

Ossianic Telegraphy: Bardic Networks And Imperial Relays, Eric Gidal

Studies in Scottish Literature

Relates James Macpherson's Fragments of Ancient Poetry (1760) and other Ossianic poems to evolving Scottish networks of commerce and communication, especially commercial telegraphy and the postal system, and posits associations also with comments in Adam Smith's Lectures on Jurisprudence and Theory of Moral Sentiments, to suggest that Macpherson's remediation of oral poetry asserted ideas of authorial identity and readership as "relays" in a new imperial network.


Wee Malkies Abroad: Scottish Literature Seen From The United Arab Emirates, Manfred Malzahn Dec 2015

Wee Malkies Abroad: Scottish Literature Seen From The United Arab Emirates, Manfred Malzahn

Studies in Scottish Literature

Discusses the recent Scottish Referendum in relation to concepts of national identity in the United Arab Emirates and explores the ways in which Scottish authors and literary works can be of interest to students in UAE, drawing also on previous experience teaching in Tunisia, stressing the interest of shorter, contemporary Scottish texts, but noting also the continuing resonance of a few older Scottish texts, including works of R. L. Stevenson.


Radical Attribution: Robert Burns And 'The Liberty Tree', Corey E. Andrews Dec 2015

Radical Attribution: Robert Burns And 'The Liberty Tree', Corey E. Andrews

Studies in Scottish Literature

Discusses the political symbolism of liberty trees in the American and French revolutions, and in Scotland in Burns's period, as background to reconsidering the song "The Liberty Tree," first printed among Burns's work by Robert Chambers in 1838, the authorship of which has remained a subject for debate among Burnsians; examines the song closely in terms of phrasing to argue that it is unlikely to be by Burns; and draws a distinction between attributing the song to Burns and its evident reliance on his iconic standing both in his own time and among later Scottish radicals.


Back To The Future: Remembering The 1707 Act Of Union In The 2014 Referendum Campaign, Leith Davis Dec 2015

Back To The Future: Remembering The 1707 Act Of Union In The 2014 Referendum Campaign, Leith Davis

Studies in Scottish Literature

Discusses the political rhetoric , imagery, and arguments, used in the debates over the 1707 Act of Union between Scotland and England, and traces their reuse in the debates that preceded the Scottish Referendum on independence in September 2014, depicting the 1707 act, not as an historical inevitability, but as "an anomalous success" after a century of earlier attempts at an incorporating union and as "a site of contestation long after its ratification."


'I Am Not Writing Anything Just Now': A Letter From Walter Scott To Sarah Smith, February 13, 1814, John T. Knox Dec 2015

'I Am Not Writing Anything Just Now': A Letter From Walter Scott To Sarah Smith, February 13, 1814, John T. Knox

Studies in Scottish Literature

Describes and reproduces a letter written by Sir Walter Scott to the actress Sarah Smith (later Mrs Bartley), in February 1814, in which he tells her shortly before the anonymous publication of his novel Waverley that "I am not writing anything just now"; discusses Scott's interest in Smith's career, his brief comments on the dramatist Joanna Baillie, and the extent to which Smith was in his confidence about his writing.


"At Whigham's Inn": Mrs. Provost Whigham's Lost Kilmarnock, The Allan Young Census, And An Unexpected Discovery, Patrick G. Scott Nov 2015

"At Whigham's Inn": Mrs. Provost Whigham's Lost Kilmarnock, The Allan Young Census, And An Unexpected Discovery, Patrick G. Scott

Faculty Publications

Reports the recent acquisition by Princeton University Library of a long-lost copy of Robert Burns's first book Poems Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (1986), formerly owned by Burns's friend Edward Whigham; describes the later transcript it contains of the short poem "At Whigham's Inn," long attributed to Burns; and reassesses the sources and authorship of the poem.


The Prayer Of Holy Willie: A Canting, Hypocritical, Kirk Elder, Patrick G. Scott Jul 2015

The Prayer Of Holy Willie: A Canting, Hypocritical, Kirk Elder, Patrick G. Scott

Faculty Publications

Robert Burns wrote this famous satire on religious hypocrisy in 1785, but he did not include it in his first book Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (1786) or in any edition published in his life-time. This edition makes accessible for the first time the locally-produced chapbook in which the poem was first printed, in 1789. The introduction discusses why the poem was written, the controversial background to the poem's first printed version, and the reasons for thinking the 1789 chapbook version was printed by John Wilson of Kilmarnock, who had printed Burns's first book three years before. An appendix …


A Bard Unkend: Selected Poems In The Scottish Dialect By Gavin Turnbull, Patrick G. Scott Jun 2015

A Bard Unkend: Selected Poems In The Scottish Dialect By Gavin Turnbull, Patrick G. Scott

Faculty Publications

The Scottish-born poet and actor Gavin Turnbull (1765-1816), a younger contemporary of Robert Burns, published two volumes of poetry in Scotland before emigrating in 1795 to the United States, where he settled in Charleston, South Carolina. This selection draws attention to a neglected aspect of Turnbull's work, his writing in Scots. Drawing on advance research for the first collected edition of Turnbull's poetry, the selection includes verse in Scots from all phases of his career, including poetry in Scots published in America, together with a biographical introduction and background notes.


Archibald Pitcairne’S The Phanaticks, Ed. John Macqueen, Murray Pittock Nov 2014

Archibald Pitcairne’S The Phanaticks, Ed. John Macqueen, Murray Pittock

Studies in Scottish Literature

Review of the first scholarly edition of a satirical play The Phanaticks (1691) [previously titled "The Assembly"] by the Scottish Jacobite poet and physician Dr. Archibald Pitcairne (1652-1713).


Three Books On The Scottish Sixties, Greg Thomas Nov 2014

Three Books On The Scottish Sixties, Greg Thomas

Studies in Scottish Literature

Discusses three recent books about Scottish culture in the 1960s: a collection of documents and interviews, The International Writers' Conference Revisited, ed. Bartie and Bell; a collection of essays, The Scottish Sixties, ed. Bell and Gunn; and a monograph, The Edinburgh Festivals, by Angela Bartie.


Tollerators And Con-Tollerators (1703) And Archibald Pitcairne: Text, Background And Authorship, John Macqueen Nov 2014

Tollerators And Con-Tollerators (1703) And Archibald Pitcairne: Text, Background And Authorship, John Macqueen

Studies in Scottish Literature

Discusses the historical background and theatrical characteristics of a short satirical play set in Edinburgh in 1703, giving the background to the Scottish Parliament's divisions over (and presbyterian hostility to) an act to give religious toleration to Episcopalian ministers; argues that the most probable author is the Jacobite poet and playwright Dr. Archibald Pitcairne (1652-1713); and presents the first modern annotated text of the play.


The First Publication Of Burns's 'Tam O' Shanter', Bill Dawson Nov 2014

The First Publication Of Burns's 'Tam O' Shanter', Bill Dawson

Studies in Scottish Literature

Examines the early publication history of Robert Burns's poem "Alloway Kirk" or "Tam o' Shanter," which Burns wrote for Francis Grose's illustrated Antiquities of Scotl;and (1789-1791), describing Grose's method of publication in parts, restoring the priority of Grose's publication of the poem, and refuting assertions that the poem has appeared slightly earlier in two Edinburgh periodicals.


Authorial Disguise And Intertextuality: Scott’S The Lay Of The Last Minstrel, Coleridge, And Keats, Beth Lau Nov 2014

Authorial Disguise And Intertextuality: Scott’S The Lay Of The Last Minstrel, Coleridge, And Keats, Beth Lau

Studies in Scottish Literature

Discusses Walter Scott's first published poem The Lay of the Last Minstrel (1805), exploring the relation between Scott's use of disguise and distancing devices with his use of anonymity in his fiction, and explores the intertextual relationships between his poem and other poems of the romantic era.


David Masson And Thomas Carlyle, Ian M. Campbell Nov 2014

David Masson And Thomas Carlyle, Ian M. Campbell

Studies in Scottish Literature

Discusses the forty-year friendship between the Scottish historian and essayist Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) and the critic and literary scholar David Masson (1822-1907), regius professor of rhetoric and English literature at the University of Edinburgh, and explores their correspondence, their interactions (especially Masson's first visit to the Carlyle household, as reported by Jane Welsh Carlyle, and Carlyle's visit to Edinburgh to give his inaugural address at Rector of the University), and the influence of Carlyle on Masson's writing, especially his monumental Life of John Milton.


George Mackay Brown’S “Celia”: The Creative Conversion Of A Catholic Heroine, Linden Bicket Nov 2014

George Mackay Brown’S “Celia”: The Creative Conversion Of A Catholic Heroine, Linden Bicket

Studies in Scottish Literature

Compares the early manuscript and published text of a short story "Celia," by the Scottish Orcadian writer, poet, and Catholic convert George Mackay Brown (1921-1996), to examine the depiction of alcoholism in the story, the influence of Graham Greene, and Brown's softening or repression of his original explicit Catholic themes and imagery when revising the story for publication.


An Autograph Manuscript Of Robert Burns’S “Afton Braes”, Patrick G. Scott Nov 2014

An Autograph Manuscript Of Robert Burns’S “Afton Braes”, Patrick G. Scott

Studies in Scottish Literature

Describes and illustrates the autograph manuscript of the song "Afton Braes" ("Flow gently, sweet Afton"), by the Scottish poet Robert Burns (1759-1796), recently acquired by the G. Ross Roy Collection, University of South Carolina Libraries, giving a collation of variants against the other major sources, examining the paper's watermark and excise stamping, and exploring both the provenance of the manuscript itself and its significance for the University of South Carolina.


Hamish Henderson And Nelson Mandela: Notes For “Rivonia”, Patrick G. Scott Nov 2014

Hamish Henderson And Nelson Mandela: Notes For “Rivonia”, Patrick G. Scott

Studies in Scottish Literature

Describes and reproduces manuscript notesin the G. Ross Roy Collection University of South Carolina Libraries, for the protest song "Rivonia" ("Free Mandela"), written by the Scottish poet, folklorist and folksinger Hamish Henderson (1919-2002) in 1963-64 in response to the trial of Nelson Mandela and other leaders of the African National Congress who had been arrested at Rivonia, South Africa and sentenced to life imprisonment on Robben Island; assesses the influence of Henderson's song, which was recorded in 1964 by the Corries Trio, and sung at the anti-apartheid protests at Murrayfield, Edinburgh, against the visit of the Springboks rugby team in …


Books Noted And Received, Patrick G. Scott, John T. Knox Nov 2014

Books Noted And Received, Patrick G. Scott, John T. Knox

Studies in Scottish Literature

Brief reviews of twenty-four recent books in Scottish literary and cultural studies.


Back To Burns, Fred Freeman Aug 2012

Back To Burns, Fred Freeman

Studies in Scottish Literature

Argues that the published settings of the songs written and collected by the Scottish poet Robert Burns (1759-1796), especially the settings in George Thomson's series A Select Collection of Original Scottish Airs, conceal Burns's original intentions, and traces this to anti-Scottish critical prejudice that had driven the genuine folk tradition underground.


"The Poor Man's Friend In Need": Baird, Burns And Miller, David Robb Aug 2012

"The Poor Man's Friend In Need": Baird, Burns And Miller, David Robb

Studies in Scottish Literature

Surveys the career of the Rev. George Baird (1761-1840), principal of the University of Edinburgh and minister of Edinburgh's High Kirk, assessing Baird's edition of the poems of Michael Bruce (1796), tracing his early encounter with the Scottish poet Robert Burns and his later connection with the self-educated Scottish writer and geologist Hugh Miller, and describing his efforts to relieve destitution and improve education in the west and north of Scotland and his extensive travels on behalf of the General Assembly's Highlands and Islands Committee.


G. Ross Roy: A Tribute, Kenneth G. Simpson Aug 2012

G. Ross Roy: A Tribute, Kenneth G. Simpson

Studies in Scottish Literature

Tribute to G. Ross Roy (1924-2013), as scholar of Robert Burns, editor of the Burns letters, and founder of the scholarly journal .Studies in Scottish Literature.


"Epistolary Performances": Burns And The Arts Of The Letter, Kenneth G. Simpson Aug 2012

"Epistolary Performances": Burns And The Arts Of The Letter, Kenneth G. Simpson

Studies in Scottish Literature

The letters written by the Scottish poet Robert Burns (1759-17960 show a self-conscious writer, who relished the craft of letter-writing and the role-playing that it allowed him. Examines letters that Burns wrote to Dr. John Moore, Margaret Chalmers, and others, and suggests a kinship between Burns as letter-writer and the letters and novels of Laurence Sterne.


On Editing The Merry Muses, Valentina Bold Aug 2012

On Editing The Merry Muses, Valentina Bold

Studies in Scottish Literature

Discusses the sources and issues in reediting the late 18th century Scottish song collection, The Merry Muses of Caledonia (1799), in connection the 50th anniversary of the first modern scholarly edition, edited by Sydney Goodsir Smith, James Barke, and J. Delancey Ferguson in 1959.