John Munro (poet)

John Munro MC (December 10, 1889, Swordale, Isle of Lewis – April 16, 1918 Ploegsteert, Belgium), was a Scottish soldier and poet who won the Military Cross during the First World War. He was killed in action while serving as a 2nd Lieutenant with the 7th Battalion Seaforth Highlanders during the 1918 Spring Offensive. Lt. Munro, writing in his native Gaelic as Iain Rothach, came to be ranked by critics alongside the major war poets. Tragically, only three of his poems are known to survive.

A collection of his poetry was prepared and given to a local minister for safekeeping and publication, but the manuscript was scandalously lost. Derick Thomson - the venerable poet and Professor of Celtic Studies at Glasgow - hailed Munro's work in his Companion to Gaelic Scotland as being: "the first strong voice of the new Gaelic verse of the 20th century".

Further reading
  • Trevor Royle. In Flanders Field (anthology of Scottish war poetry).
  • Ronald Black (1999), An Tuil: Anthology of 20th Century Scottish Gaelic Verse, Polygon.
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