Scotia Extremis

ANDY JACKSON was born in Salford, England in 1965, but has lived in Scotland since 1993. His two poetry collections The Assassination Museum (2010) and A Beginner’s Guide to Cheating (2015) were both published by Red Squirrel Press, and he has curated and edited several poetry anthologies including Split Screen (2012) and Double Bill (2014) for Red Squirrel Press, and Whaleback City: The Poetry of Dundee and its Hinterland (with W N Herbert) for Dundee University Press (2013). In 2015 he again collaborated with W N Herbert on the New Boots & Pantisocracies poetry blog project, chronicling the UK in the months following the 2015 General Election. He was Makar to the Federation of Writers Scotland in 2017.BRIAN JOHNSTONE was born in Edinburgh in 1950, but has lived in rural Fife since the 1970s. A poet, writer and performer, his work has appeared throughout Scotland, elsewhere in the UK, in North America, Australasia and across Europe. He has published six collections, most recently Juke Box Jeopardy (Red Squirrel, 2018) and Dry Stone Work (Arc, 2014). His poems have been translated into over a dozen languages. In 2015 his work was selected to appear on the Poetry Archive website. His memoir Double Exposure was published by Saraband in 2017. A founder and former Director of StAnza: Scotland’s International Poetry Festival, he was a literary events organiser for over 20 years, co-founding Edinburgh’s Shore Poets and curating Cave Readings for the Pittenweem Arts Festival in the 1990s. www.brianjohnstonepoet.co.uk

Scotia Extremis is a kist of riches – a book to dip into and then smile at the diversity of voices it holds… Add the inventiveness of what reads like a roll call of many of Scotland’s finest contemporary poets and this book is both a keeper and – at £9.99 – a bargain.–NORTHWORDS NOW

• Introduction 11Scotland: A Split Personality? 12 WHIGMALEERIES Lydia RobbThe Saltire 1Sheena BlackhallThe Lion Rampant 15Jacob PolleyA Cultural Landscape 16Vicki FeaverMelancholy Thistle, Garvald Quarry 17Christine De LucaThe White Heather Club 18Pippa LittleThe People’s Friend 19Mandy HaggithTweed 20Magi GibsonThe First Recorded Case 21Liz NivenGlasgow Empire 22Colin BeggI Remember Your First Time 24David Kinloch A Veesion 26Claire Askew Nessie to the Unaccompanied Minor 28 FOWK Richie McCafferyHamish Henderson (1919–2002) 30Colin McGuireWork! Consume! Die! 31Dawn WoodStorm in a Teacup, Catterline 32Marjorie Lotfi GillMillennium Window 33Catriona Lexy CampbellFarpais a200/Competition a200 34Beth McDonoughPrepare to Climb Your Muriel 36Stephanie GreenIvor Cutler 37Angus Peter CampbellWilliam Topaz McGonagall 39W N HerbertMastercriminal 40Tracey HerdBible Joanne 43Rob A MackenzieTo Be John Knox 46James RobertsonWee Bozzy Boswell 48 THON PLACE Robert CrawfordTo Sullom Voe 52Kate ArmstrongScapa Flow, 2016 53Aiko GreigTaking My Mother to Higher Ground 54Jacqueline ThompsonThe In Pin 55A C ClarkeThe Barras 56Tessa BerringCaryatid 57Nikki RobsonThe Callanish Stones 58Hamish WhyteLittle Sparta 59James McGonigalHeadwaters 62Matthew FittSpey 63Lindsay MacgregorSkara Brae 64Marion McCreadyPolphail Village 65Rody GormanGuth Ri Ràdh/Nothing to be Said 67Gerry LooseGruinard 69 BILL O FARE Elspeth McLeanEna Baxter Soup 73Russell JonesMasala 74Fran BaillieUisge Beatha 75Claudia DaventryCommotion Lotion 76Rebecca SharpThe Declaration of Barrbru 78Dilys RoseCullen Skink 80John GlendayThe Numbers Stations 81Jean AtkinEdinburgh Castle Rock 82 GAUN ABOOT Stewart ConnThe Clockwork Orange 84Donny O’RourkeThe Vital Spark 85Ian McDonoughJohn o’Groats 87Imtiaz DharkerMobarik Picnic 88Ian CrockattThe Bridge Over The Atlantic 90Judith TaylorThe Forth Bridge 91Janette AyachiSauchiehall Street 92Alasdair PatersonThe Royal Mile 94 THE GEMM Richard WattGeorge Kidd 96Tom PowKen Buchanan (1945–) 98Jim MackintoshUnner the Fold 101Maoilios Caimbeul / Myles CampbellRèisean, Weihsian, Nollaig 1944/ Races, Weihsian, Christmas 1944 102Harry Smart4 104Graham FultonArchie Gemmill Scores in a Parallel Universe 106Maggie RabatskiWhen I Hear Your Name, Bill McLaren 108Brian WhittinghamArthur Montford’s Horizontal Hold 110 HOOLEYHarry GilesThe Gay Gordons 112Andrew J WilsonVambo Unbound 113Andrew Greig Jimmy Shand 114Ian StephenTales of Brave Ulysses 115Janet PaisleyVoice 117Valerie ThorntonSusan Magdalene 118Jim C WilsonThe Alexander Brothers Perform at the Dean Bowling Club, Comely Bank, Edinburgh, June 1971 120Theresa MuñozMen 121Kevin ReidPostcard 122J L WilliamsA Rush A Kiss A Rush 123George T WattNiel Gow 124Stuart A PatersonNae Regrets 125Eleanor LivingstoneRoads Not Taken, Trousers Not Rolled 126Rachel McCrumThe Jesus and Mary Chain 127Màrtainn Mac an t-Saoir / Martin MacIntyreDùthchas Beò / Living Tradition 128Elizabeth RimmerYou Play the Melody 130 TALES Patricia AceGregory’s Girl 132Jane McKieWhere’s the Door Here? 133Sheenagh PughTrue Places 132Hugh McMillanSummerisle 136John QuinnOor Wullie 135Aonghas MacNeacailBlack Bob (say no more) 138Keren MacphersonThe DunBroch Tapestry 140Tim TurnbullPrime 141Donald S MurrayChic Murray 140Jackie KayA Day Like Today 143Christie WilliamsonMeeting Demand 144Jenni DaichesThe Body Snatchers 145 NOTIONS Douglas DunnCadell (and other Colourists) 148Colin WillIn a Good Light 149Gerrie FellowsMemoir Concerning the Transmission of Speech 150Ross WilsonStooky Bill 152Niall CampbellA Twenty Pound Note 153Ruth AylettGreat Powers: John Napier of Merchiston 154Chris PowiciHappens 156Jim CarruthOne Proof for Lord Kelvin’s Second Law of Thermodynamics 158Ryan Van WinkleGrace 159Roseanne WattHamefarin/Homecoming 160Ken CockburnBob the Roman 162Sheila TempletonJames Keir Hardie 163Brian JohnstoneNorth Britain 164Andy JacksonCaledonia 166 Biographies 167 Acknowledgements 182