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Hamnavoe (poem)
"Hamnavoe" is a poem by the Scottish poet George Mackay Brown. It is one of his best-known works and is learned off by heart by many Orkney children at school. Hamnavoe is the Viking name for the town of Stromness, where Brown spent most of his life. He refers to it as such in many of his works, including ''Letters from Hamnavoe'' and "Hamnavoe Market". The poem is in part a memorial to his father, John Brown, a postman, and describes the postman's round in Stromness and the people he meets on his way. Brown, who never read his work in public, chose this to be recorded as one of five poems representative of his work, now held by the Poetry Archive. In 2005, a memorial plaque to George Mackay Brown was unveiled in the Writers' Museum, on the Royal Mile, Edinburgh. It is engraved with a quotation from "Hamnavoe": ::''In the fire of images'' ::''Gladly I put my hand'' Extracts from the poem are inscribed on windows at the Stromness Ferry Terminal, and quotations can also be seen on b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Mackay Brown
George Mackay Brown (17 October 1921 – 13 April 1996) was a Scottish poet, author and dramatist with a distinctly Orcadian character. He is widely regarded as one of the great Scottish poets of the 20th century. Biography Early life and career George Mackay Brown was born on 17 October 1921, the youngest of six children. His parents were John Brown, a tailor and postman, and Mhairi Mackay, who had been brought up in Braal, a hamlet near Strathy, Sutherland, as a native Gaelic speaker. Except for periods as a mature student in mainland Scotland, Brown lived all his life in the town of Stromness in the Orkney islands. One of his Stromness neighbours was his friend the artist Sylvia Wishart. Because of an illness, his father was restricted in his work and received no pension. The family had a history of depression and Brown's uncle, Jimmy Brown, may have committed suicide: his body was found in Stromness harbour in 1935. George Mackay Brown's youth was spent in poverty. During ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stromness
Stromness (, non, Straumnes; nrn, Stromnes) is the second-most populous town in Orkney, Scotland. It is in the southwestern part of Mainland Orkney. It is a burgh with a parish around the outside with the town of Stromness as its capital. Etymology The name "Stromness" comes from the Norse ''Straumnes''. ''Straumr'' refers to the strong tides that rip past the Point of Ness through Hoy Sound to the south of the town. ''Nes'' means "headland". Stromness thus means "headland protruding into the tidal stream". In Viking times the anchorage where Stromness now stands was called Hamnavoe. Town A long-established seaport, Stromness has a population of approximately 2,190 residents. The old town is clustered along the characterful and winding main street, flanked by houses and shops built from local stone, with narrow lanes and alleys branching off it. There is a ferry link from Stromness to Scrabster on the north coast of mainland Scotland. First recorded as the site of an inn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Writers' Museum
The Writers’ Museum, housed in Lady Stair's House at the Lawnmarket on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, presents the lives of three of the foremost Scottish writers: Robert Burns, Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson. Run by the City of Edinburgh Council, the collection includes portraits, works and personal objects. Beside the museum lies the Makars' Court, the country's emerging national literary monument. Gallery File:Writers Museum interior with exhibit rooms.jpg , Interior and exhibit rooms File:Robert Louis Stevenson books at the Writers Museum Edinburgh.jpg , Display of Robert Louis Stevenson books File:Statue of Robert Burns in Writers Museum Edinburgh.jpg , Statue of Robert Burns File:Ballantyne display in Writers Museum in Edinburgh 002.jpg , Ballantyne display File:Writers Museum gift shop and exhibits.jpg , Gift shop and exhibits See also * List of museums in Scotland This list of museums in Scotland contains museums which are defined for this contex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Mile
The Royal Mile () is a succession of streets forming the main thoroughfare of the Old Town of the city of Edinburgh in Scotland. The term was first used descriptively in W. M. Gilbert's ''Edinburgh in the Nineteenth Century'' (1901), describing the city "with its Castle and Palace and the royal mile between", and was further popularised as the title of a guidebook by R. T. Skinner published in 1920, "''The Royal Mile (Edinburgh) Castle to Holyrood(house)''". The Royal Mile runs between two significant locations in the royal history of Scotland: Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Palace. The name derives from it being the traditional processional route of monarchs, with a total length of approximately one Scots mile, a now obsolete measurement measuring 1.81km. The streets which make up the Royal Mile are (west to east) Castlehill, the Lawnmarket, the High Street, the Canongate and Abbey Strand. The Royal Mile is the busiest tourist street in the Old Town, rivalled only ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
MV Hamnavoe
MV ''Hamnavoe'' is a car and passenger ferry, built in 2002 and operated by NorthLink Ferries across the Pentland Firth from the mainland of Scotland to the Orkney Islands. Description The ship, with a length of and beam , measures . ''Hamnavoe'' has a capacity for 600 passengers and 68 cars. Facilities include passenger lounges and bars, a self-service restaurant, a children's playroom, a sun deck and a games room. There are 16 passenger cabins with two or four berths, which are all en-suite. There are two specially-adapted cabins for the disabled and wheelchair access throughout the ship. ''Hamnavoe'' is powered by twin MaK 9M32C diesels, totalling and resulting in a service speed of History ''Hamnavoe'' is the first ferry to have been specifically built for the Pentland Firth route, and was given the old Norse name for Stromness, meaning 'Home Port' or 'Safe Haven'. The ship was originally ordered in October 2000 from Ferguson Shipbuilders at Port Glasgow but Ferguson ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Owen Sheers
Owen Sheers (born 20 September 1974) is a Welsh poet, author, playwright and television presenter. He was the first writer in residence to be appointed by any national rugby union team. Early life Owen Sheers was born in Suva, Fiji in 1974, and brought up in Abergavenny, south Wales. He went to school at King Henry VIII School in Abergavenny, before studying at New College, Oxford, and the University of East Anglia, at which point he completed an MA in Creative Writing. During his time at New College, Sheers captained the Oxford University Modern Pentathlon team. Career In 1999, Sheers received an Eric Gregory Award from the Society of Authors. His first collection of poetry, ''The Blue Book'', was published by Seren in 2000. A collection of poems about family, first love and farming life, it was shortlisted for the Wales Book of the Year and the Forward Prize for "Best First Collection". Following this first publication, Sheers worked on the light entertainment television show ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scottish Poems
Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish identity and common culture *Scottish people, a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland *Scots language, a West Germanic language spoken in lowland Scotland *Symphony No. 3 (Mendelssohn), a symphony by Felix Mendelssohn known as ''the Scottish'' See also *Scotch (other) *Scotland (other) *Scots (other) *Scottian (other) *Schottische The schottische is a partnered country dance that apparently originated in Bohemia. It was popular in Victorian era ballrooms as a part of the Bohemian folk-dance craze and left its traces in folk music of countries such as Argentina ("chotis"Span ... * {{disambiguation Language and nationality disambiguation pages ca:Escocès ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
