Flora Garry (30 September 1900 – 16 June 2000) was a
Scottish poet who mostly wrote in the
Scots dialect of
Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland.
It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...
.
Well known for her poetry, she played an important role along with
Charles Murray Charles Murray may refer to:
Politicians
*Charles Murray, 1st Earl of Dunmore (1661–1710), British peer
*Charles Murray (author and diplomat) (1806–1895), British author and diplomat
*Charles Murray, 7th Earl of Dunmore (1841–1907), Scotti ...
and
John C. Milne in validating the literary use of Scots.
Biography
Flora Garry was the daughter of Archie Campbell, a freelance writer who used the ''nom de plume'' of "The Buchan Farmer", and Helen Campbell, who wrote plays for radio.
She was brought up at Mains of Auchmunziel, near to
New Deer
New Deer ( gd, Achadh Reite) is a settlement in Aberdeenshire, North East Scotland, which lies in the valley of Deer. It is located at the junction of several roads crossing through the Howe of Buchan. It was founded after monks from Deer Abbey, O ...
,
Buchan
Buchan is an area of north-east Scotland, historically one of the original provinces of the Kingdom of Alba. It is now one of the six committee areas and administrative areas of Aberdeenshire Council, Scotland. These areas were created by th ...
in Abderdeenshire.
She went to school in New Deer, then went on to the
Peterhead Academy and the
University of Aberdeen
The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...
.
She became a school teacher, and taught at
Dumfries
Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the ...
and
Strichen
Strichen is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It sits on the A981, connecting it to New Deer to the southwest and Fraserburgh to the north-northeast, and the B9093, connecting it to New Pitsligo about due west. The village got its name ...
.
She married
Robert Campbell Garry
Robert Campbell Garry DSc (1933) OBE FRSE LLD (1900–1993) was a British physician and Professor of Medicine at the University of St Andrews and the University of Glasgow. During World War II, as an expert on human physiology, he advised on ...
, who was the first to use insulin in Scotland while a house doctor at
Western Infirmary
The Western Infirmary was a teaching hospital situated in the West End of Glasgow, Scotland, that was managed by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. It was opened in 1874 and closed in 2015.
History
After the University of Glasgow moved from the city ...
, Glasgow and who became Regius Professor of Physiology at the
University of Glasgow
, image = UofG Coat of Arms.png
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of arms
Flag
, latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis
, motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita
, ...
. They had one son, Frank.
Flora Garry did not start to write poetry until
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, and did not publish anything until she was an old age pensioner.
Explaining why she began writing poetry so late, she said that just as happiness has no history, neither does it write poetry.
She corresponded with
Edith Anne Robertson
Edith Anne Robertson (10 Jan 1883 – 31 Jan 1973) was a Scottish poet who wrote in both the English and Scots tongues.
Biography
Edith Anne Stewart was born in Glasgow, to Jane Louisa Faulds and Robert Stewart, a civil engineer. She attende ...
(1883–1973), another Aberdeenshire poet who wrote in the Scots tongue.
Her verse collection ''Bennygoak'' was first published in 1974.
She spent her last years in
Comrie Comrie may refer to:
Places
*Comrie (crater), a lunar crater
*Comrie, Fife, a village in Fife, Scotland
*Comrie, Perth and Kinross, a village and parish in Strathearn, Scotland
People with the surname
*Aaron Comrie (born 1997), Scottish footballer ...
, Perthshire, dying there on 16 June 2000 after outliving her husband and her son.
Work
Flora Garry loved the gently rolling farming country of
Buchan
Buchan is an area of north-east Scotland, historically one of the original provinces of the Kingdom of Alba. It is now one of the six committee areas and administrative areas of Aberdeenshire Council, Scotland. These areas were created by th ...
, which she celebrated in her poetry.
Although she wrote fine English, her full talent emerged in her work in the local Buchan dialect.
Most of the writers in Scots in the first half of the twentieth century were well educated and of middle-class background. They respected the Scots language but it was not their native tongue. Flora Garry was unusual in that as a child she probably spoke the language she later used in her poetry.
A reviewer has said that her
Doric Doric may refer to:
* Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece
** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians
* Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture
* Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode
* Doric dialect (Scotland)
* Doric ...
poetry is written "with a sure touch and a sharp eye."
Another has said she was "one of the most uncompromising of recent dialect poets; but the great affection in which she and her work are locally held is clear evidence not only for the vitality of her Doric as a poetic medium but for the strength of the folk-memory of traditional NE farming life."
Bibliography
*
*
Reviews
*
Garioch, Robert (1980), review of ''Bennygoak and Other Poems'', in Burnett, Ray (ed.), ''Calgacus'' 2, Summer 1975, p. 54,
References
Citations
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Garry, Flora
1900 births
2000 deaths
Doric poets
20th-century Scottish poets
People educated at Peterhead Academy
Alumni of the University of Aberdeen
Scottish schoolteachers
People from New Deer