I wasn’t sure what I’d be reading when submissions started to roll in for “Scotland and the Scottish”. The usual mixture of sweet and sour subjects perhaps but dealt with in a fresh, provocative way: gorgeous landscapes and tracksuit-clad junkies, naïve crofters and savvy students, fishermen and faeries? The odd selkie and speywife, maybe a talking heilan’ coo (‘highland cow’ for the non-Scots among you, one of those big hairy orange beasts with horns and a mouthful of greenery you’ll see scratching against fence posts when you travel round Scotland or filling souvenir shops with their fuzzy likenesses)? Odes to clootie dumplings, IrnBru ice cream, and deep fried pizza? Rants on Independence and Brexit?
Not exactly. I was delighted to be sent fresh tales with traditional subject matter, poems with humour, emotion, and bite, and nonfiction that informed me and made me think. It was difficult to decide which pieces to include in this special issue but with the assistance of the Literary Orphans team we managed to narrow down our selection to the work of ten people who come from Scotland, England, Canada, and the US. I am very grateful to them for sending us their work and allowing us to publish it. I also appreciate the courage of the people whose work was submitted but not ultimately accepted – this time – and would definitely encourage them to continue submitting those pieces elsewhere, and also to consider sending new work here again. We hope to see more from you soon.
I’ve deliberately shied away from describing the pieces included here in any specific way as I think it only right that you, the reader, will experience them without any kind of hint or nudge from myself regarding subject matter or style. What I will say is that I appreciated the opportunity as someone raised in Scotland and now, as is still common over a hundred years after the infamous clearances, living elsewhere, to revisit the countryside and cityscapes I knew as a child, to share the experience of expatriation through another’s eyes and words, and to rage at … well, something I deem unjust.
Unlike orphan Alexander “Greek” Thomson, whose work was generally unappreciated outside of Glasgow within his lifetime, the pieces included in this special edition will be read around the world. Such is the wonder of the internet, that powerful unifier (and divider) of humanity. And appropriately for an issue named for this great architect, there are themes of beauty, social consciousness, and tragic loss running through the work featured here as they did through his life. At a time when many eyes are on Scotland and hope is, to a certain extent, lightening the current climate of fear, it seems appropriate to bring out an issue dedicated to Scotland and the Scottish. We hope you enjoy it, think about these pieces, and draw inspiration from them yourself.
Keep creating,
Gill
–Background photo of Scottish Flag by Julien Ortet
–Foreground daguerreotype of Alexander “Greek” Thomson, circa 1850, photographer unknown, public domain
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