Sydney Goodsir Smith

The grave of Sydney Goodsir Smith, Dean Cemetery

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

Life

He was born in Wellington, New Zealand, the son of Prof Sydney Smith and his wife, Catherine Goodsir Gelenick.[1]

He moved to Edinburgh with his family in 1928.[2] He was educated 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. He also claimed to have studied art in Italy, wine in France and mountains in Bavaria.[3]

His first poetry collection of many, Skail Wind, was published in 1941. Carotid Cornucopius (1947) was a comic novel about Edinburgh. His A Short Introduction to Scottish Literature, based on four broadcast talks, was published in 1951.[4] His play The Wallace formed part of the 1960 Edinburgh Festival.

Smith was also associated with the editorial board for the Lines Review magazine.[5][6]

Under the Eildon tree (1948), a long poem in 24 parts, is considered by many his finest work;[2] 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 the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh[5] after a heart attack outside a newsagents on Dundas Street in Edinburgh and was buried in Dean Cemetery in the northern 20th century section, towards the north-west. His wife, Hazel Williamson, lies with him.

Memorials

He is commemorated by a "pavement poem" in the "Makars' Court" a section of James Court off the Lawnmarket on the Royal Mile.

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
  • A Short Introduction to Scottish Literature, Serif Books, 1951
  • 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

References

  1. ↑ http://www.nzedge.com/legends/sydney-smith/
  2. 1 2 "About Sydney Goodsir Smith". University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  3. ↑ Smith, Sydney Goodsir (1947), Selected Poems, Saltire Modern Poets series, Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh, back cover
  4. ↑ Smith, Sydney Goodsir (1951), A Short Introduction to Scottish Literature, Serif Books, Edinburgh
  5. 1 2 "Smith, Sydney Goodsir". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/58855. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  6. ↑ Royle, Trevor (29 April 1998). "Lines reaches the end". The Scotsman  – via HighBeam Research (subscription required) . Retrieved 22 November 2014.
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