BENEATH TROUBLED SKIES: Poems of Scotland at War 1914-1918

In collaboration with Sir Hew Strachan and the First World War historian Yvonne McEwen, editor Lizzie MacGregor in compiling this book reflects a longstanding interest in Scottish poetry in the first half of the 20th century. It is the story of Scotland at war, written in the poetry of the time in English, Gaelic and Scots, by servicemen, volunteers and those on the home front. Well-known soldier poets such as Charles Hamilton Sorley, E. A. Mackintosh, Domhnall Ruadh Choruna and Joseph Lee are joined by others who fought with their pens to chronical and comment on the war, among them Mary Symon, Neil Munro and Margaret Sackville. The book follows the war as it develops year by year and takes us from the very first 'Sough o' War' sweeping through the land, to the despair of the trenches and the anguish of the bereaved. There is unexpected humour and comradeship, women at work, men shattered by conflict, and the appalling tragedies of Gretna and the Iolaire, to post-war sorrow for a generation cast into the fire. A Vignette: 'On stark and tortured wire where refuse of war lies tangled in mire - when God is flinging rain down the skies - sit three little birds, singing.' - R. Watson Kerr. Throughout this volume is a strong sense of Scotland's identity, and in 1914, Scotland had produced proportionately more volunteers for Kitchener's New Armies than the rest of Britain. May Wedderbun Cannan in her poem 'To A Clerk, Now At the Wars' she envies the male clerk whom she has replaced because he is now freed to take an active part in the fighting. 152pp, nice clear layout for the poems.