John Morrison Caie LLD (20 August 1878 – 22 December 1949) was a Scottish civil servant and poet. His poetry centres upon rural life in north-east Scotland.

Life

Caie was born in

Banchory Banchory (, sco, Banchry, gd, Beannchar) is a burgh or town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is about west of Aberdeen, near where the Feugh River meets the River Dee. Prehistory and archaeology In 2009, a farmer discovered a short cist bu ...

and raised in

Fochabers Fochabers (; gd, Fachabair or Fothabair) is a village in the Parish of Bellie, in Moray, Scotland, east of the cathedral city of Elgin and located on the east bank of the River Spey. 1,728 people live in the village, which enjoys a rich musi ...

, Moray. He was the son of the Rev William S. Caie, minister of Enzie parish church, in Banffshire, and Helen Smith Scott. He was educated at Milne's Institute in Fochabers, and graduated from the

University of Aberdeen , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

(MA, BL, BSc). A lawyer and

agronomist An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.), is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the ...

, he became a civil servant at the

Board of Agriculture for Scotland The Scottish Office was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom from 1885 until 1999, exercising a wide range of government functions in relation to Scotland under the control of the Secretary of State for Scotland. Following the e ...

in 1912 and rose to the level of Depute Secretary 1939-1945 (during the critical period of

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 opposing ...

). He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1940, one of his proposers being

James Couper Brash James Couper Brash, MC, FRCSE, FRSE (24 October 1886 in Cathcart – 19 January 1958 in Edinburgh) was a leading anatomist and embryologist in Britain. Early life and family James Couper Brash was born in Cathcart in Scotland, the son of ...

. He was a noted poet, writing on subjects drawn from the rural culture of northeast Scotland. He is best known nowadays for his humorous poem, ''The Puddock'', one of many that he wrote in his native Doric dialect. The poem has become a favourite piece to teach to children in Scottish

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

s. In 1945,

Aberdeen University , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

awarded him an honorary doctorate (LLD). He died in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

on 22 December 1949.

Family

He married Mary Macleod in 1908.

Selected bibliography

* ''The Kindly North: verse in Scots and English'' (Aberdeen: D. Wyllie & Son, 1934) * ''Twixt Hills and Sea: verse in Scots and English'' (Aberdeen: D. Wyllie & Son, 1939)

References

External links

* * * Caie, John Morrison Caie, John Morrison People from Banchory Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Companions of the Order of the Bath Caie, John Morrison Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Scottish agronomists Scottish civil servants Scottish lawyers Scottish poets {{UK-poet-stub