John Munro (10 December 1889, Swordale,

Isle of Lewis The Isle of Lewis ( gd, Eilean Leòdhais) or simply Lewis ( gd, Leòdhas, ) is the northern part of Lewis and Harris, the largest island of the Western Isles or Outer Hebrides archipelago in Scotland. The two parts are frequently referred to as ...

– 16 April 1918

Ploegsteert Ploegsteert ( pcd, Ploster) is a village of Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Comines-Warneton, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It is the most westerly settlement of Wallonia. It is approximately north of the French bor ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

), was a

Scottish 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 ide ...

soldier and poet who won the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He was killed in action three days later while serving as a

2nd Lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

with the 7th Battalion

Seaforth Highlanders The Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, The Duke of Albany's) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, mainly associated with large areas of the northern Highlands of Scotland. The regiment existed from 1881 to 1961, and saw servic ...

during the 1918 Spring Offensive. Lt. Munro, writing in his native

Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...

as Iain Rothach, came to be ranked by critics alongside the major

war poet A war poet is a poet who participates in a war and writes about their experiences, or a non-combatant who writes poems about war. While the term is applied especially to those who served during the First World War, the term can be applied to a p ...

s. Tragically, only three of his poems are known to survive. They are ''Ar Tir'' ("Our Land"), ''Ar Gaisgich a Thuit sna Blàir'' ("Our Heroes Who Fell in Battle"), and ''Air sgàth nan sonn'' ("For the Sake of the Warriors"). Ronald Black has written that Munro's three poems leave behind, "his thoughts on his fallen comrades in tortured

free verse Free verse is an open form of poetry, which in its modern form arose through the French ''vers libre'' form. It does not use consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any musical pattern. It thus tends to follow the rhythm of natural speech. Definit ...

full of reminiscence-of-rhyme; forty more years were to pass before free verse became widespread in Gaelic."Ronald Black (1999), ''An Tuil: Anthology of 20th Century Scottish Gaelic Verse'', Polygon. p. xxiv. A collection of his poetry was prepared and given to a local minister for safekeeping and publication, but the manuscript was scandalously lost. Derick S. Thomson - a similarly important figure in

Scottish Gaelic literature Scottish Gaelic literature refers to literature composed in the Scottish Gaelic language and in the Gàidhealtachd communities where it is and has been spoken. Scottish Gaelic is a member of the Goidelic branch of Celtic languages, along with Irish ...

poet and Professor of Celtic Studies 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 , ...

- hailed Lt. Munro as, "the first strong voice of the new Gaelic verse of the 20th century". Derick S. Thomson (1987), ''Companion to Gaelic Scotland'', page 253.

References

External links

Poem by Munro
in Gaelic and English. {{DEFAULTSORT:Munro, John 1889 births 1918 deaths Scottish World War I poets 20th-century British male writers Scottish male poets People from the Isle of Lewis 20th-century Scottish Gaelic poets British Army personnel of World War I Recipients of the Military Cross British military personnel killed in World War I Seaforth Highlanders officers

References

Further reading

External links