''Linmill Stories'' is the title of a
short story cycle A short story cycle (sometimes referred to as a story sequence or composite novel) is a collection of short stories in which the narratives are specifically composed and arranged with the goal of creating an enhanced or different experience when rea ...
written by the playwright
Robert McLellan
Robert McLellan OBE (1907–1985) was a Scottish renaissance dramatist, writer and poet and a leading figure in the twentieth century movement to recover Scotland’s distinctive theatrical traditions. He found popular success with plays and s ...
in the
Scots language
Scots ( endonym: ''Scots''; gd, Albais, ) is an Anglic language variety in the West Germanic language family, spoken in Scotland and parts of Ulster in the north of Ireland (where the local dialect is known as Ulster Scots). Most commonly ...
. He began writing the stories in 1939, publishing some of them piecemeal and separately throughout the post-war years until, in the 1960s, the whole cycle was broadcast on radio in Scotland to great critical acclaim. The complete cycle was eventually gathered and published posthumously in 1990.
Modern writing in Scots is relatively rare and predominantly focussed on poetry and dramatic dialogue. McLellan's achievement in fine Scots prose is generally seen, alongside that of
William Laughton Lorimer
William Laughton Lorimer (1885–1967) was a Scottish scholar. Born at Strathmartine on the outskirts of Dundee, he was educated at the High School of Dundee, Fettes College, and Trinity College, Oxford. He is best known for the translation of th ...
, as being the most important of the mid-twentieth century period.
1939 short stories
Scots-language literature
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