Lewis Grassic Gibbon was the pseudonym of James Leslie Mitchell (13 February 1901 – 7 February 1935), a Scottish writer. He was best known for ''
A Scots Quair
''A Scots Quair'' is a trilogy by the Scottish writer Lewis Grassic Gibbon, describing the life of Chris Guthrie, a woman from the north-east of Scotland during the early 20th century.
It consists of three novels: '' Sunset Song'' (1932), ''Clou ...
'', a trilogy set in the north-east of Scotland in the early 20th century, of which all three parts have been serialised on BBC television.
Biography
Born in Auchterless and raised from the age of seven in
Arbuthnott
Arbuthnott ( gd, Obar Bhuadhnait, "mouth of the Buadhnat") is a village and parish in the Howe of the Mearns, a low-lying agricultural district of Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is located on the B967, east of Fordoun (on the A90) and north-west ...
, in the former county of
Kincardineshire
Kincardineshire, also known as the Mearns (from the Scottish Gaelic meaning "the Stewartry"), is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area on the coast of northeast Scotland. It is bounded by Aberdeenshire on the north and ...
, Mitchell started working as a journalist for the '' Aberdeen Journal'' in 1917 and later for the ''Farmers Weekly'' after moving to
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
. Gibbon grew up in Stonehaven, and attended Mackie Academy. During that time he was active with the British Socialist Party.
In 1919, Mitchell joined the Royal Army Service Corps and served in Iran, India and Egypt before enlisting in the
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
in 1920. In the RAF he worked as a clerk and spent some time in the Middle East.
When he married Rebecca Middleton (known as Ray) in 1925, they settled in
Welwyn Garden City
Welwyn Garden City ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London. It was the second garden city in England (founded 1920) and one of the first new towns (designated 1948). It is unique in being both a garden city and a new town and ...
. He began writing full time in 1929, producing numerous books and shorter works under his real name and his pseudonym. He suffered an early death in 1935 from
peritonitis
Peritonitis is inflammation of the localized or generalized peritoneum, the lining of the inner wall of the abdomen and cover of the abdominal organs. Symptoms may include severe pain, swelling of the abdomen, fever, or weight loss. One part o ...
, brought on by a perforated
ulcer
An ulcer is a discontinuity or break in a bodily membrane that impedes normal function of the affected organ. According to Robbins's pathology, "ulcer is the breach of the continuity of skin, epithelium or mucous membrane caused by sloughing o ...
.
Fiction
Mitchell gained attention from his earliest attempts at fiction, notably from
A Scots Quair
''A Scots Quair'' is a trilogy by the Scottish writer Lewis Grassic Gibbon, describing the life of Chris Guthrie, a woman from the north-east of Scotland during the early 20th century.
It consists of three novels: '' Sunset Song'' (1932), ''Clou ...
'', and in particular its first book '' Sunset Song'', with which he made his mark. ''A Scots Quair'', with its combination of stream-of-consciousness, lyrical use of
dialect
The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena:
One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a ...
, and social realism, is considered to be among the defining works of the 20th century
Scottish Renaissance
The Scottish Renaissance ( gd, Ath-bheòthachadh na h-Alba; sco, Scots Renaissance) was a mainly literary movement of the early to mid-20th century that can be seen as the Scottish version of modernism. It is sometimes referred to as the Scot ...
. It tells the story of Chris Guthrie, a young woman growing up in the north-east of Scotland in the early 20th century. All three parts of the trilogy have been turned into serials by BBC Scotland, written by Bill Craig, with
Vivien Heilbron
Vivien Heilbron (born 13 May 1944) is a Scottish actress.
Career
Heilbron, who was born in Glasgow, was a member of the company at Dundee Repertory Theatre in the mid-1960s. She achieved fame in her homeland when she appeared in the 1971 BBC ...
as Chris. Additionally, Sunset Song has been adapted into a film, released in 2015. ''
Spartacus
Spartacus ( el, Σπάρτακος '; la, Spartacus; c. 103–71 BC) was a Thracian gladiator who, along with Crixus, Gannicus, Castus, and Oenomaus, was one of the escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major slave uprisin ...
'', a novel set in the famous slave revolt, is his best-known full-length work outside this trilogy.
In 1934 Mitchell collaborated with Hugh MacDiarmid on ''Scottish Scene'', which included three of Gibbon's short stories. His stories were collected posthumously in ''A Scots Hairst'' (1969). Possibly his best-known is "Smeddum", a Scots word which could be best translated as the colloquial term "guts". Like ''A Scots Quair'', it is set in north-east Scotland with strong female characters. It was dramatised by Bill Craig and the BBC, as a Play for Today in 1976, along with two other short stories, "Clay" and "Greenden". Also notable is his essay ''The Land''.
Remembrance
The Grassic Gibbon Centre was established in Arbuthnott in 1991 to commemorate the author's life. There is a memorial to him and his wife, and other members of the Mitchell family, in the western corner of the village churchyard (parish church of
Saint Ternan
Saint Ternan (''fl.'' fifth or sixth century) is venerated as the "Bishop of the Picts". Not much is known of his life. Different historians place him either at the mid-fifth century or the latter part of the sixth. Those who place him in the earl ...
) of Arbuthnott, nowadays in Aberdeenshire.
In 2016 ''Sunset Song'' was voted Scotland's favourite novel in the BBC Love to Read campaign. A feature article on the novel has been written by Nicola Sturgeon, who edited a recent edition.''New Statesman'', 31 January 2020, pp. 42–44.
Bibliography
*''Hanno: or the Future of Exploration'' (1928 *''Stained Radiance: A Fictionist's Prelude'' (1930 *''The Thirteenth Disciple'' (1931 *''The Calends of Cairo'' (1931 *'' Three Go Back'' (1932) *''The Lost Trumpet'' (1932 *'' Sunset Song'' (1932), the first book of the trilogy ''
A Scots Quair
''A Scots Quair'' is a trilogy by the Scottish writer Lewis Grassic Gibbon, describing the life of Chris Guthrie, a woman from the north-east of Scotland during the early 20th century.
It consists of three novels: '' Sunset Song'' (1932), ''Clou ...
' *''Persian Dawns, Egyptian Nights'' (1932 *''Image and Superscription'' (1933 *'' Cloud Howe'' (1933), the second book of the trilogy ''
A Scots Quair
''A Scots Quair'' is a trilogy by the Scottish writer Lewis Grassic Gibbon, describing the life of Chris Guthrie, a woman from the north-east of Scotland during the early 20th century.
It consists of three novels: '' Sunset Song'' (1932), ''Clou ...
' *''
Spartacus
Spartacus ( el, Σπάρτακος '; la, Spartacus; c. 103–71 BC) was a Thracian gladiator who, along with Crixus, Gannicus, Castus, and Oenomaus, was one of the escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major slave uprisin ...
A Scots Quair
''A Scots Quair'' is a trilogy by the Scottish writer Lewis Grassic Gibbon, describing the life of Chris Guthrie, a woman from the north-east of Scotland during the early 20th century.
It consists of three novels: '' Sunset Song'' (1932), ''Clou ...
' *''Nine Against the Unknown'' (1934 *''The Speak of the Mearns'' (1982), published posthumously
Reviews
Glenda Norquay, "Echoes from The Mearns", reviewing ''The Speak of the Mearns'', in Sheila G. Hearn, ed., ''
Cencrastus
''Cencrastus'' was a magazine devoted to Scottish and international literature, arts and affairs, founded after the Referendum of 1979 by students, mainly of Scottish literature at Edinburgh University, and with support from Cairns Craig, then a ...
Cairns Craig
Robert Cairns Craig (born 16 February 1949) is a Scottish literary scholar, specialising in Scottish and modernist literature. He has been Glucksman Professor of Irish and Scottish Studies at the University of Aberdeen since 2005. Before that, ...
, ''Fearful Selves: Character, Community and the Scottish Imagination'', in ''
Cencrastus
''Cencrastus'' was a magazine devoted to Scottish and international literature, arts and affairs, founded after the Referendum of 1979 by students, mainly of Scottish literature at Edinburgh University, and with support from Cairns Craig, then a ...
'' No. 4, Winter 1980–1881, pp. 29–32,
*Douglas Gifford, ''In Search of the
Scottish Renaissance
The Scottish Renaissance ( gd, Ath-bheòthachadh na h-Alba; sco, Scots Renaissance) was a mainly literary movement of the early to mid-20th century that can be seen as the Scottish version of modernism. It is sometimes referred to as the Scot ...
: The Reprinting of Scottish Fiction'', in ''
Cencrastus
''Cencrastus'' was a magazine devoted to Scottish and international literature, arts and affairs, founded after the Referendum of 1979 by students, mainly of Scottish literature at Edinburgh University, and with support from Cairns Craig, then a ...
'' No. 9, Summer 1982, pp. 26 – 30,
*Douglas Gifford, '' Neil M. Gunn & Lewis Grassic Gibbon'' (Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd, 1983)
*Scott Lyall, ed., ''The International Companion to Lewis Grassic Gibbon'' (Glasgow: Scottish Literature International, ASLS, 2015)
*Scott Lyall, "J. Leslie Mitchell/Lewis Grassic Gibbon and Exploration", in ''Scottish Literary Review'' 4.1, Spring/Summer 2012, pp. 131–150
*Scott Lyall, '"East is West and West is East": Lewis Grassic Gibbon's Quest for Ultimate Cosmopolitanism', in Gardiner et al. (eds), ''Scottish Literature and Postcolonial Literature'' (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2011), pp. 136–146
*Scott Lyall, 'On Cosmopolitanism and Late Style: Lewis Grassic Gibbon and
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...
', in Dymock and Palmer McCulloch (eds), ''Scottish and International Modernisms'' (Glasgow: ASLS, 2011), pp. 101–115
*Margery Palmer McCulloch and Sarah Dunnigan (eds), ''A Flame in the Mearns'' (Glasgow: ASLS, 2003)
*William K. Malcolm, ''A Blasphemer and Reformer: A Study of J. Leslie Mitchell/Lewis Grassic Gibbon'' (Aberdeen: Aberdeen University Press, 1984)
*Iain S. Munro, ''Leslie Mitchell: Lewis Grassic Gibbon'', (Oliver and Boyd, 1966)
*Douglas F. Young, ''Beyond the Sunset: A Study of James Leslie Mitchell'' ''(Lewis Grassic Gibbon)'' (Aberdeen: Impulse Publications, 1973)