Andrew John Young (29 April 1885 – 25 November 1971) was a Scottish poet and clergyman although recognition of his poetry was slow to develop.
Life
Andrew Young was born to the stationmaster of
Elgin in Scotland in 1885. Two years later his father moved to
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
, where young Andrew attended the
Royal High School and later took an arts degree at the University of Edinburgh. The disappearance of his brother David in discreditable circumstances in 1907 so affected him that he gave up his intention to become a barrister and instead studied theology at the local
New College. Old habits died hard, however, and his first collection of poems, ''Songs of Night'', a work of Swinburnean
aestheticism
Aestheticism (also the Aesthetic movement) was an art movement in the late 19th century which privileged the aesthetic value of literature, music and the arts over their socio-political functions. According to Aestheticism, art should be pro ...
, was published in 1910 at his father's expense - pillar of the
presbytery though he was.
Ordained into the
United Free Church of Scotland
The United Free Church of Scotland (UF Church; gd, An Eaglais Shaor Aonaichte, sco, The Unitit Free Kirk o Scotland) is a Scottish Presbyterian denomination formed in 1900 by the union of the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland (or UP) and ...
in 1912, Young was appointed two years later to his first ministry in the village of
Temple, Midlothian
Temple ( gd, Baile nan Trodach) is a village and civil parish in Midlothian, Scotland. Situated to the south of Edinburgh, the village lies on the east bank of the river South Esk.
The civil parish has a population of 225 (in 2011).Census of S ...
, and married Janet Green, who was lecturing in English at a teacher training college in Glasgow. Thereafter she devoted her energies to looking after their two children, Anthony (1915–1987) and Alison (1922–2001), and making it possible for her husband to pursue his literary career.
After the hiatus of war service, Young's next appointment took him to Sussex where in 1920 he became the minister of the Presbyterian Church at
Hove
Hove is a seaside resort and one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove, along with Brighton in East Sussex, England. Originally a "small but ancient fishing village" surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th cen ...
. In that year too ''Boaz and Ruth'', his next collection was published, shortly followed by several more. The style was now that of the
Georgian poets
Georgian Poetry refers to a series of anthologies showcasing the work of a school of English poetry that established itself during the early years of the reign of King George V of the United Kingdom.
The Georgian poets were, by the strictest ...
, among whom he had many friends. In 1939 he applied for admission to the
Anglican ministry
The Anglican ministry is both the leadership and agency of Christian service in the Anglican Communion. "Ministry" commonly refers to the office of ordained clergy: the ''threefold order'' of bishops, priests and deacons. More accurately, Anglica ...
and in 1941 became Vicar of the rural parish of Stonegate in East Sussex. In 1959 he was enabled to retire and moved to
Yapton
Yapton is a village and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England. It is centred three miles (4.8 km) north east of Bognor Regis at the intersection of the B2132 and B2233 roads.
The parish of Yapton lies on the coastal plai ...
, where he had become a canon of the nearby
Chichester Cathedral
Chichester Cathedral, formally known as the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Chichester. It is located in Chichester, in West Sussex, England. It was founded as a cathedral in 1075, when the seat of the ...
.
Later writing
Young came to reject his former style upon achieving the honed and focused nature poetry of ''Winter Harvest'' (1933) and the four later collections that he called his canon. Earlier poems were now 'quarried' and rewritten in his new style. The change was signalled by signing these poems as Andrew Young, rather than A.J.Young as formerly, and it was only from the publication of the 1960 ''Collected Poems'' that editors began to use selections from the earlier work again. His new manner was characterised by sharp observation and the movement of the poetry towards a striking final image, as in the short "Essex Salt-Marsh".
![Looking north-east across salt-marshes - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Looking_north-east_across_salt-marshes_-_geograph.org.uk_-_603824.jpg)
::Now the tide’s task is done,
::Marsh runnels turn and chuckling run
::Or come to a standstill,
::The level ground for them a breathless hill.
::And as they run or faint
::Through mud that takes the sunset’s paint,
::The gullies they have worn
::Shine as with purple grapes and golden corn.
There were several musical settings of his poetry, including the incidental music composed by
Imogen Holst
Imogen Clare Holst (; 12 April 1907 – 9 March 1984) was a British composer, arranger, conductor, teacher, musicologist, and festival administrator. The only child of the composer Gustav Holst, she is particularly known for her education ...
for his play ''Nicodemus'' (1937). "Christmas Day" from his collection ''Speak to the Earth'' (1939) also proved popular with composers and was set by
Mervyn Roberts
Mervyn Roberts (23 November, 1906 12 July 1990), full name William Henry Mervyn Roberts, was a Welsh composer, best known for his piano music. Eiluned Davies regarded him as one of 'Y Pump Cymreig' (The Welsh Five) along with Denis ApIvor, Dan ...
(1947),
Robin Milford
Robin Humphrey Milford (22 January 1903 – 29 December 1959) was an English composer and music teacher.
Biography
Milford was born in Oxford, son of Sir Humphrey Milford, publisher with Oxford University Press. He attended Rugby School ...
(1949), Neil Butterworth (1954), and
Elizabeth Poston
Elizabeth Poston (24 October 1905 – 18 March 1987) was an English composer, pianist and writer.
Early life and career
Poston was born in Highfield House in Pin Green, which is now the site of Hampson Park in Stevenage. In 1914, she moved ...
(1967).
The work of his later years included the two long religious poems of ''Out of the World and Back'' (1958), highly regarded at the time, and several prose works dealing with botany and the landscape. His literary reputation was being fostered in these years by
Leonard Clark, who made selections and collections of his poetry between 1959 and 1974. Thereafter his daughter, who had married the poet
Edward Lowbury
Edward Joseph Lister Lowbury (December 12, 1913 - July 10, 2007) was a pioneering and innovative English medical bacteriologist and pathologist, and also a published poet.
Life
Edward Lowbury was born in Hampstead to the recently naturalised Benj ...
, continued the work.
[''To Shirk No Idleness'', a critical biography of Andrew Young by Edward Lowbury and Alison Young, London, 1997]
Recognition of Young's writing came slowly. The
Royal Society of Literature
The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, th ...
awarded him the
Benson Medal
The Benson Medal is a medal awarded by the Royal Society of Literature in the UK.["The Benson Medal"](_blank)
in 1939 and gave him an honorary fellowship in 1951. In that year too he received an honorary degree from the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
and, in the following year, was awarded the
Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry
The Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry is awarded for a book of verse published by someone in any of the Commonwealth realms. Originally the award was open only to British subjects living in the United Kingdom, but in 1985 the scope was extended to in ...
.
Works
* Songs of Night (1910)
* Boaz and Ruth (1920)
''The death of Eli'' (1921)
* Thirty One Poems (1922)
* The Cuckoo Clock (1922)
* The Adversary (1923) - ''verse plays''
* The Bird Cage (1926)
* The New Shepherd (1931)
* Winter Harvest (1933)
* The White Blackbird (1935)
* Collected Poems (1936, Cape)
* Nicodemus (1937) - ''verse play''
* Speak to the Earth (1939)
* A Prospect of Flowers (1944) - ''prose''
* The Green Man (1947)
* A Retrospect of Flowers (1950) - ''prose''
* Collected Poems (1950, Cape)
* Into Hades (1952)
* A Prospect of Britain (1956) - ''prose''
* Out of the World and Back (1958)
* Quiet as Moss: 36 Poems (1959, 1967) - ''selection by Leonard Clark''
* Collected Poems (1960, Hart-Davis)
* The Poet and the Landscape (1962) - ''prose''
* Burning as Light: 37 poems (1967) - ''selection by Leonard Clark''
* The New Poly-Olbion (1967) - ''prose poems''
::Posthumous publications
* The Poetic Jesus (SPCK, London 1972) - ''prose''
* Complete Poems (Secker & Warburg, London 1974)
* Andrew Young : remembrance and homage (Tidal Press, Maine, 1978) - ''small selection''
* Parables (Keepsake Press, Richmond 1985) - ''mini-sermons''
* The Thirteenth Key (Protean Publishing Company, Birmingham 1985) - ''fiction''
* Poetical Works (Secker & Warburg, London 1985)
* Crystal and Flint (Snake River Press, Brighton 1991) - ''selection''
* Selected Poems (Carcanet, Manchester 1998)
References
Further reading
* Richard Omrod: ''Andrew Young : priest, poet and naturalist'', Cambridge : The Lutterworth Press, 2018,
External links
Mathias Richter's Andrew Young HomepageCollection of Andrew Young's papers in the New York Public Library88 poems by Andrew Young at Poetry Nook16 poems at Traveling Poet5 poems4 poems at the Scottish Poetry Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Andrew
People from Elgin, Moray
Converts to Anglicanism from Presbyterianism
Anglican poets
Scottish Episcopalian clergy
1885 births
1971 deaths
20th-century Scottish poets
Scottish male poets
20th-century British male writers
People from Yapton