Sydney Goodsir Smith

Sydney Goodsir Smith (26 October 1915 – 15 January 1975) was a New Zealand-Scottish poet, artist, dramatist and novelist. He wrote poetry in literary Scots often referred to as Lallans, and was a major figure of the Scottish Renaissance.

He was born in Wellington, New Zealand, and moved to Edinburgh with his family in 1928. He was at school at Malvern College. He went to Edinburgh University to study medicine, but abandoned that, and started to read history at Oriel College, Oxford; whence he was expelled, but managed to complete a degree.

His first poetry collection of many, "Skail Wind", was published in 1941. "Carotid Cornucopius" (1947) was a comic novel about Edinburgh. His play "The Wallace" formed part of the 1960 Edinburgh Festival.

"Under the Eildon tree" (1948), a long poem in 24 parts, is considered by many his finest work; "The Grace of God and the Meth-Drinker" is a much-anthologised poem. "Kynd Kittock's land" (1964) was a commission of a poem to be televised by the BBC.

He died in Edinburgh. He is now commemorated in The Makars' Court there.

Works

*"Skail wind - poems", Edinburgh, The Chalmers press, 1941
*"The wanderer, and other poems", Edinburgh, Oliver and Boyd, 1943
*"The deevil’s waltz", Glasgow, W. MacLellan, 1946
*"Selected poems", Edinburgh, published for The Saltire Society by Oliver and Boyd, 1947
*"So late into the night - fifty lyrics, 1944-1948", with a preface by Edith Sitwell, London, P. Russell, 1952
*"Robert Ferguson, 1750-1774", Edinburgh, Nelson, 1952
*"Orpheus and Eurydice - a dramatic poem", Edinburgh, M. Macdonald, 1955
*"Figs and thistles", Edinburgh, Oliver and Boyd, 1959
*"The Wallace, a triumph in five acts", Edinburgh, Oliver and Boyd, 1960
*"Carotid Cornucopius, caird of the Cannon Gait and voyeur of the Outlook Touer", Edinburgh, M. Macdonald, 1964
*"Kynd Kittock’s land", Edinburgh, M. Macdonald, 1965
*"Fifteen poems and a play", Edinburgh, Southside, 1969
*"Collected poems, 1941-1975", with an introduction by Hugh McDiarmid, London, John Calder, 1975
*"The drawings of Sydney Goodsir Smith, poet, collected by Ian Begg", edited by Joy Hendry, Edinburgh, Chapman Press, on behalf of The New Auk Society, 1998