That light appears non-earthly; but that does not mean
that it is celestial. So the light that never was on sea
or land, the light shed on us by the poetic imagination,
fills our inward being with its glory. In that moment
we ascend to the highest point of merely human attain-
ment; its felicity is the gift of art, and is as totally
different from the felicity of the saints as it is from
material triumph. It is the glow of thought in a man;
it represents a moment of shining experience in his life,
and we kindle to that experience, even if we differ from
the man in creed and race. It is by virtue of that that
the arts are one while everything else is different, for
life is one though lives differ. The whole of Mr.
M'Diarmid's book is a witness to his possession of this,
the supreme poetic gift. In his poetry this is almost
entirely revealed in brief lyric, the most condensed form
of poetic art, as the epigram is the most concentrated
form of thought; and the lyrics in Sangschaw have alike
the pointedness of epigram and the sudden brightness of
imagination. Let me quote, as exemplifying this,
"The
Man in the Moon":

"The moonbeams kelter i' the lift,
An' Earth, the bare auld stane,
Glitters beneath the seas o' Space,
White as a mammoth's bane.

"An lifted owre the gowden wave,
Peers a dumfoun'ered Thocht,

Wi' keethin' sicht o' a' there is,
An' bodily sicht o' nocht."

Some of this will be verbally unintelligible to most Scots, and this leads me to refer to the outstanding novelty in the poet's use of the vernacular. Whether he got his strange words out of Jamieson or not, or from varied acquaintance with different dialects of the Scottish tongue, I do not know and I do not care. But he has drawn on all for his vocabulary, and they are as

alien to me as many of the words in the poetry of Burns. That, however, presents no difficulty, or, rather, is not a hindrance, to any one who is familiar with foreign poetry; while as a Scot, I find myself taking to it as naturally as, being Glasgow-born, I take to ships. Take this single line:

"Earth's littered wi' larochs o' Empires."

I had never heard of "larochs" till I came across it here, but when I learned its meaning-sites-I felt I had made a discovery. There was something infinitely satisfying about it, a suggestion of wreck, but more ruinous even than wreck. So with his other loot of the past. Wherever he got his treasure, he has made it his own, livingly and imaginatively, and one of the greatest pleasures I have found in his poetry has lain in his revelation of the power and significance of words once unknown to me, of words as valuable to us still as mirk or thrawn or glower. If I add to all this the fact that M'Diarmid has humour, boldness, and, if need be, the grim realism that in Scots goes cheek by jowl with pure imaginative vision, I shall have said enough to prove that Sangschaw is entirely out of the ruck of what has so long passed for poetry in Scotland. It has given me the greatest delight, and I measure poetry by delight, and delight only.

I have not thought it advisable in this paper to try to cover all the ground. I have not referred to Neil Munro's poetry at all, for it holds a province of its own and holds it with distinction. Moreover, many writers have written single poems or a few indicative of a changed outlook, a bolder presentation of reality, and a genuine eagerness to catch the spiritual significance of life to-day. Some of these have published, but they have still, in my opinion, to make good their claim to be regarded as poets of national standing. There are others, again, such as Rachel Anand Taylor, Alexander Gray,

the translator of Heine into Scots, and John Ferguson, the author of Thyrea, who have done individual work in a special line, but with whom I could not have dealt without going beyond my immediate purpose, which was to give some idea of the general change in the trend of Scottish poetry. 1926 will show us whether that is likely to be permanent or not. But it is devoutly to be hoped it will, for true poetical activity is the surest sign of living nationality. ROBERT BAIN.

NOTE.

A notice of A Book of Twentieth-century Scots Verse, selected by Mr. William Robb-which was published after Mr. Bain's article was completed—will be found among Reviews of new books, infra.

ASSOCIATION FORMED AT GLASGOW.

At a representative meeting of Scottish Societies held in the Central Halls, Glasgow, on 22nd October, 1925, it was unanimously resolved to establish for Glasgow and district an Association for the purpose of preserving the Scots vernacular.

There was a large attendance, and the chairman (Sir Robert Bruce, President of the Burns Federation) was accompanied to the platform by Professor John Glaister, Sheriff P. J. Blair, Mr. A. M. Williams, Mr. George Eyre-Todd, Mr. Thomas Killin, Mr. J. Jeffrey Hunter, Mr. R. J. Maclennan, and Mr. Tod Ritchie.

Apologies for absence were intimated from, among others, Principal Sir Donald MacAlister, who expressed the hope that measures would be proposed which would make for the better cultivation of our national speech. Professor R. S. Rait, who sent a word of sympathy and support, hoped that they would secure the active help of the teaching profession.

The Chairman, who proposed the resolution that the meeting resolves to establish for Glasgow and district an Association for the preservation of the Scots vernacular, recalled the fact that at the recent conference of the Burns Federation in Edinburgh the suggestion was made that it might be very desirable that each group of Burns Clubs should form a Vernacular Circle on the lines of the Circle that had been so great a success in London. That advice, he understood, was being followed in various parts of Scotland, but they in Glasgow should have a guid conceit o' themselves "-they ought to attempt something bigger in a city which was the centre from which a large number of societies were devoting themselves to various aspects of the study of Scottish life and

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character and literature. While it was true that the movement had started with the Burns Federation, he did not desire it to be supposed that the Federation claimed any parentage at all in the matter. The subject was too wide to be under the auspices of any one Scottish organisation. The meeting had been called, not to form a Circle, but an Association, for Glasgow and district. Speaking in regard to the general aspect of the matter, he alluded to the effort of the Burns Federation to get the school teachers interested in the vernacular literature. Many teachers were already enthusiasts, and he mentioned the very sympathetic attitude of the Scottish Education Department and the Chief Inspectors. They were starting under the happiest auspices. Principal Sir Donald MacAlister had greatly encouraged them by consenting to become Honorary President, and Professor Rait and Professor Macneile Dixon had agreed to work with them.

Mr. A. M. Williams, who seconded the resolution, said that what they wanted was not to attempt to get people to speak the Scots tongue, but to make sure that it was not forgotten, and that their young people should have an opportunity of being able to read the best in our Scottish prose and verse. It was in a great city like Glasgow that the problem pressed itself upon them, because in the country there was still a great deal of the vernacular being used in everyday speech. In the town there were various circumstances that caused them to forget, and, as an illustration, he confessed that he had been driven to a glossary while reading Johnny Gibb of Gushetneuk. What they wanted to make sure was that the young people who were growing up did not lose touch with their great heritage, something that was in their blood and bones. One of the most distinctive things about them as a nation was their Scottish tongue. Sheriff P. J. Blair, who supported the motion, said that if any part of Scotland in recent times had done