Iain Crichton Smith, (

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 ...

: ''Iain Mac a' Ghobhainn''; 1 January 1928 – 15 October 1998) was a Scottish poet and novelist, who wrote in both English and Gaelic. He was born in

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 ...

, but moved to the

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 ...

at the age of two, where he and his two brothers were brought up by their widowed mother in the small crofting town of

Bayble Bayble ( gd, Pabail) is a large village in Point, Outer Hebrides, Point (''An Rubha''), on the Isle of Lewis, east of Stornoway, Outer Hebrides, Stornoway. Bayble is also within the parish of Stornoway. There are around 400 people living in Ba ...

, which also produced

Derick Thomson Derick Smith Thomson (Scottish Gaelic: ''Ruaraidh MacThòmais''; 5 August 1921, Stornoway – 21 March 2012, Glasgow) was a Scottish poet, publisher, lexicographer, academic and writer. He was originally from Lewis, but spent much of his life ...

. Educated at 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 ...

, Crichton Smith took a degree in English, and after serving in the

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...

Army Education Corps, went on to become a teacher. He taught in

Clydebank Clydebank ( gd, Bruach Chluaidh) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Mil ...

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990. Dumbarton was the ca ...

and

Oban Oban ( ; ' in Scottish Gaelic meaning ''The Little Bay'') is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William. During the tourist season, th ...

from 1952, retiring to become a full-time writer in 1977, although he already had many novels and poems published .

Overview of work

Crichton Smith was brought up in a Gaelic-speaking community, learning English as a second language once he attended school. Friend and poet Edwin Morgan notes that unlike his contemporaries (such as Sorley Maclean and

), Crichton Smith was more prolific in English than in Gaelic, perhaps viewing his writing in what, from Crichton Smith's view, was an imposed non-native language as a challenge to English and American poets. However, Crichton Smith also produced much Gaelic poetry and prose, and also translated some of the work of Sorley Maclean from Gaelic to English, as well as some of his own poems originally composed in Gaelic. Much of his English language work is actually directly related to, or translated from, Gaelic equivalents. Crichton Smith's work also reflects his dislike of dogma and authority, influenced by his upbringing in a close-knit, island

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

community, as well as his political and emotional thoughts and views of Scotland and the

Highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Albania * Dukagjin Highlands Armenia * Armenian Highlands Australia *Sou ...

. Despite his upbringing, Crichton Smith was an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

. A number of his poems explore the subject of the

Highland Clearances The Highland Clearances ( gd, Fuadaichean nan Gàidheal , the "eviction of the Gaels") were the evictions of a significant number of tenants in the Scottish Highlands and Islands, mostly in two phases from 1750 to 1860. The first phase resulte ...

, and his best-known novel '' Consider the Lilies'' (1968) is an account of the eviction of an elderly woman during such times. Elderly women and alienated individuals are common themes in his work.

Poetry

Crichton Smith's poetry quite often had a character perhaps based on his mother. He also typically used natural images to convey emotion. His poetry includes: * Culloden and After (1961) - an attack on that period in British history, especially "Bonnie Charlie". * Old Woman (1965) * The Iolaire (date) * The Man who Cried Wolf (1964) * You Lived in Glasgow (date) * You'll Take a Bath (date) * John Brown (KHS)(1966)

Bibliography

*''The Long River'' (1955) *'' Bùrn is Aran'' (1960) *'' Thistles and Roses'' (1961) *'' Deer on the High Hills'' (1962) *'' An Dubh is an Gorm'' (1963) *'' Bìobuill is Sanasan-Reice'' (1965) *'' The Law and the Grace'' (1965) *'' Modern Gaelic Verse'' (1966) *'' The Golden Lyric: an Essay on the Poetry of Hugh MacDiarmid'' (1967) *'' At Helensburgh'' (1968) *'' Consider the Lilies'' (1968) *'' Ben Dorain by Duncan Ban MacIntyre'' (1969) *'' From Bourgeois Land'' (1969) *'' The Last Summer'' (1969) *'' Iain am Measg Nan Reultan'' (1970) *'' Maighstirean is Ministearan'' (1970) *'' Selected Poems'' (1970) *'' Survival Without Error'' (1970) *'' My Last Duchess'' (1971) *'' Poems to Eimhir translated from Sorley MacLean'' (1971) *'' Love Poems and Elegies'' (1972) *'' An t-Adhar Ameireaganach'' (1973) *'' The Black and the Red'' (1970) *'' Rabhndan is Rudan'' (1973) *'' Eadar Fealla-dha is Glaschu'' (1974) *'' Goodbye Mr Dixon'' (1974) *'' Hami Autumn'' (1974) *'' The Notebooks of Robinson Crusoe'' (1975) *'' The Permanent Island'' (1975) *'' An t-Aonaran'' (1976) *'' The Hermit and Other Stories'' (1977) *'' An End to Autumn'' (1978) *'' River, River'' (1978) *'' On the Island'' (1979) *'' Murdo'' (1981) *'' A Field Full of Folk'' (1982) *'' Selected Poems 1955-1982'' (1982) *'' The Search'' (1982) *'' Mr Trill in Hades'' (1984) *'' Na h-Eilthirich'' (1983) *'' The Exiles'' (

Carcanet Press Carcanet Press is a publisher, primarily of poetry, based in the United Kingdom and founded in 1969 by Michael Schmidt. In 2000 it was named the '' Sunday Times'' millennium Small Publisher of the Year. History ''Carcanet'' was originally a li ...

, 1984) *'' Selected Poems'' (

, 1985) *'' The Tenement'' (1985) *'' Towards the Human: Selected Essays'' (1986) *'' Twelve More Modern Scottish Poets'' (1986) editor, with C. King: *'' A Life'' (

, 1986) *'' Burn is Aran'' (1987) *'' An t-Eilean agus an Cànan'' (1987) *'' In the Middle of the Wood'' (1987) *'' Moments in Glasshouses'' (1987) editor *'' A' Bheinn Oir'' (1989) *'' Na Speuclairean Dubha'' (1989) *'' The Dream'' (1989) *'' Selected Poems'' (1990) *'' Turas tro Shaoghal Falamh'' (1991) *'' Na Guthan'' (1991) *'' An Honourable Death'' (1992) *'' Collected Poems'' (1992) *'' An Dannsa mu Dheireadh'' (1992) *'' Thoughts of Murdo'' (1993) *'' An Rathad gu Somalia'' (1994) *''Ends and Beginnings'' (

, 1994) *''The Human Face'' (

, 1996) *''The Leaf and the Marble'' (

, 1998) *''Country For Old Men and My Canadian Uncle'' (

, 2000) *'' Am Miseanaraidh'' (first published 2006) *Iain Crichton Smith, ''Guardate i gigli'', a cura di Silvia Campanini, EUT Edizioni Università di Trieste, 2009 * ''New Collected Poems'' (

, 2010) * ''Deer on the High Hills: Selected Poems'', ed. John Greening (2021)

Reviews

* Relich, Mario (1976), review of ''The Notebooks of

Robinson Crusoe ''Robinson Crusoe'' () is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published on 25 April 1719. The first edition credited the work's protagonist Robinson Crusoe as its author, leading many readers to believe he was a real person and the book a tra ...

'', in Burnett, Ray (ed.), ''Calgacus'' 3, Spring 1976, pp. 54 & 55, * Craig, David (1980), review of ''On the Island'', 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. 2, Spring 1980, pp. 39 - 41, * Lothian, Andrew (1981), review of ''Murdo and Other Stories'', in ''

'' No. 6, Autumn 1981, p. 41 * Craig, Cairns (1983), ''Crichton Smith: Poetry and Prose'', a review of ''Selected Poems 1955 - 1980'' and ''A Field Full of Folk'', in Hearn, Sheila G. (ed.), ''

'' No. 11, New Year 1983, pp. 44 & 45, * Grant, Jamie (1984), review of ''The Search'', in Hearn, Sheila G. (ed.), ''

'' No. 15, New Year 1984, p. 53,

Awards and honours

He was made an officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

in 1980.

References

External links

Iain Crichton Smith publications on the Carcanet website

BBC bio - Làrach nam BàrdAberdeen University Celtic Department
Experts on Iain Crichton Smith's writing, especially in Gaelic

- An essay on Crichton Smith's poetry, by Edwin Morgan
Iain Crichton Smith - An extensive exploration of his life, work, and legacy
- Dissertation focusing on the Gaelic prose of Crichton Smith, by Alexander Shevellin
"Real People in a Real Place" and "Between Sea and Moor"
Iain Crichton Smith's essays {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Iain Crichton 1928 births 1998 deaths Officers of the Order of the British Empire Scottish atheists People from the Isle of Lewis Scottish novelists 20th-century Scottish Gaelic poets Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Scottish Gaelic novelists 20th-century British novelists 20th-century Scottish poets Scottish male poets 20th-century British male writers