William Neill (poet)

For other persons named William Neill, see William Neill.

William Neill (22 February 1922 – 5 April 2010) was an Ayrshire-born poet who wrote in Scottish and Irish Gaelic, Scots and English. He was a major contributing voice to the Scottish Renaissance.^[1]

Early life

Neill was born in Prestwick, Ayrshire and educated at Ayr Academy. After service in the RAF, he took an Honours degree in Celtic studies and English at Edinburgh University. He was a frequent contributor to Catalyst and Gairm magazines and subsequently became the second editor of Catalyst. As a young writer, he studied the poets of the Scottish Renaissance, and viewed 'modern assertions that "Scots was dying in the time of Burns" as the assertions of dyed-in-the-wool townies.

Career

Neill lived in Galloway and taught English at Castle Douglas High School; his wife taught at the primary school. Occasionally he would sicken of teaching English and conduct lessons in Scots instead.

Awards

Neill took the National Mod's bardic crown at Aviemore in 1969. Awards for poetry have included The Grierson Verse Prize (1970), Sloan Prize (1970) and a Scottish Arts Council Book Award (1985).

Works

Scotland's Castle, Reprographia (Gordon Wright), 1969
Four Points of a Saltire, Reprographia (Gordon Wright), 1970
Then and Now: poems and songs, W. Neill
Poems, Akros Publications, 1970
Despatches Home, Reprographia (Gordon Wright), 1972, ISBN 0-903065-07-X
Wild Places: Poems in Three Leids, Luath Press, 1985
Making Tracks: and other poems, Gordon Wright Publishing, 1988, ISBN 0-903065-65-7
Straight Lines, Blackstaff Press, 1992, ISBN 0-856404756
Tales frae the Odyssey o Homer, Saltire Society, 1992, ISBN 0-854110496
Selected Poems, 1969-1992, Canongate Press, 1994, ISBN 978-0-86241-476-4
A Hantle o Romanesco Sonnets bi Giuseppe Gioachino Belli (1791-1863), Burnside Press, 1995, ISBN 0-9527288-0-X
Galloway Landscapes: poems, URR Publications, 1981, ISBN 978-0-9507609-0-2; Previous Parrot Press, 1997
Caledonian Cramboclink, Luath Press, 2000, ISBN 978-0-946487-53-0

References

↑ "William Neill, Poet". The Herald. 11 April 2010.

External links

The Poetry Of William Neill by Emanuela Zocca at the Wayback Machine (archived 6 September 2003)

Scots makars

c. 1370 – c. 1460	John Barbour Huchoun James I Sir Gilbert Hay Andrew of Wyntoun Richard Holland

c. 1460 – c. 1560	Blind Hary Robert Henryson Walter Kennedy William Dunbar Gavin Douglas David Lyndsay William Stewart

c. 1560 – 17th century	Alexander Scott Alexander Montgomerie James VI Castalian Band William Fowler Elizabeth Melville Alexander Hume Robert Sempill Robert Sempill the younger Francis Sempill

18th century – 20th century	Allan Ramsay Robert Fergusson Robert Burns Robert Louis Stevenson Alicia Ann Spottiswoode William Soutar Robert Garioch Sydney Goodsir Smith Tom Scott George Campbell Hay Alexander Scott Hamish Henderson William Neill

Official appointment (from 2004)	Edwin Morgan Liz Lochhead Jackie Kay

Authority control	WorldCat Identities VIAF: 34672280 ISNI: 0000 0000 7840 4380 SUDOC: 110403681 BNF: cb14412570n (data)

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