Scotland: the promised land
The Cultural
Revolution: in the wake of the Great War, two visions of Scotland emerged - a
nationalist cultural resurgence led by a band of writers and a popular revival
that appealed to the masses.
The final
film in this series examines the struggle between these two ideologies,
charting the remarkable transformation of those who helped give birth to the
modern Scotland we know today. 'Scotland the promised land: the cultural
revolution' is available from the BBC store.
How the
kailyard segued into the cultural renaissance, driven by poet Hugh MacDiarmid
(pictured) and others. Learn about the role played by the Angus port of
Montrose in this intellectual revolution.
'1919, and
the Great War was over; there was a sense of relief. Folk flocked to the
country's music halls and theatres for their entertainment. It was a golden age
of Scottish variety. Wherever it was, music hall was always local or regional
in character, a peoples' theatre. In Scotland it had a national dimension, a
distinct character of its own; tartan, kitsch and escapist. It was an invented
version of Scotland that found its way into all sorts of productions. Scottish
pantomimes had a scene added called the 'Highland Glen', whereby the audience
were suddenly transported to a Highland glen. It was an excuse for Scots dancing,
a celebration of identity in costume and songs. One of the most popular
performers of the time was Tommy Lorne. Part clown, part comic, he was the
leading pantomime star of his generation. Lorne wore white make-up and white
gloves worn over long expressive hands. He took Highland fantasy to new
heights, depicting a surreal, almost grotesque version of Scotland. His
portrayal wasn't to everyone's taste. By the 1920s, Scotland’s identity,
culture and voice were fast disappearing, eclipsed by her imperial English
neighbour. In music halls up and down the country, Scotland had been reduced to
a tartan caricature.
A group of
resistance fighters were attempting to change Scotland, to rescue her from this
invasion from south of the border, this occupying force. A small army of
writers and artists plotted a revolution that would revive Scotland's
disappearing culture and allow her true voice to be heard. They would fight
with polemic, thoughts, imagery and words.
Christopher
Murray Grieve was 27 years old when he left
the Royal Army Medical Corps. At the front, he had witnessed the deaths and
suffering of his fellow Scots. But at home, his countrymen were reduced to a
laughing stock: Scotland had become a figure of fun. After the war Grieve and
his wife Peggy settled in Montrose, a harbour town on the Angus coast. Grieve
took a job as a reporter on the local paper, the Montrose Review. He covered
the unveiling of the town's war memorial: to some, the memorial was a tribute
to those who had fallen for King, country and Empire. But to Grieve, it was a
reminder of wholesale slaughter in the trenches, of comrades needlessly ordered
to their deaths by the British ruling class. To Grieve, nothing less than a
revolution could prevent this from ever happening again.
In Welwyn
Garden City, a new town outside London, exiled Scot and former newspaper
reporter in Aberdeen, James Leslie Mitchell is typing the final chapter of his
seventh novel. Mitchell was a Mearns loon who used the pen-name Lewis Grassic
Gibbon. The novel was titled 'Sunset Song'. This young
novelist was part of a small army of writers who were attempting to change
Scotland, to rescue her from an invasion from south of the border. Rather than
military, these occupying forces were cultural. By the 1920s, Scotland’s
identity, culture and voice were fast disappearing, eclipsed by her imperial
English neighbour.
It was 1931,
and Mitchell was to die of peritonitis caused by a perforated ulcer in 1935,
tragically young at the age of 33. With a growing family to support, he vowed
that Sunset Song would be his last attempt at writing the great Scottish novel. Contained in the manuscript
is a story of loss, the memories of a Scottish childhood and a generation of
young men wiped out by the Great War.'
There's a
host of further links, features and reviews about Sunset Song and Lewis Grassic
Gibbon on the forviemedia site. There's also articles that explore the lives
and work of Hamish Henderson and a feature on our third Makar, Jackie Kay, in Blogs. In addition
I found the following links to be informative and of interest.
Alan Riach:
Hugh MacDiarmid's satirical to and fro with Glasgow University undergraduates
'Hugh
MacDiarmid: Our greatest poet who saw Scotland on an infinite level' - Harry
Reid
'How
friendship blossomed between firebrand Hugh MacDiarmid and Mary Poppins writer
PL Travers' - Martin Hannan article in the National
'Poet's lost
plea for nation to be confident and self-aware unearthed after 70 years' -
Kathleen Nutt
Nan Shepherd
'Unanswered
questions, unfulfilled potential' - Alan Riach
Igniting the
creative spirit ... a television series that left its mark
Wall
Projects, Montrose: news from the Angus port in 2016. Based in the Old Ropeworks, Wall Projects is
the labour of love of artist Kim Canale, who moved back to her hometown with a
mission to bring contemporary art to North-East Scotland. Driven by the
philosophy that “not all roads lead to Glasgow and Edinburgh”, Kim supports
emerging talent while showcasing artists who are at the top of their game.
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