William Neill (22 February 1922 – 5 April 2010) was an Ayrshire-born poet who wrote in Scottish and

Irish Gaelic Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was the ...

, Scots and English. He was a major contributing voice to 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 Scotland, Scottish version of modernism. It is sometimes referred to as ...

Early life

Neill was born in

Prestwick Prestwick ( gd, Preastabhaig) is a town in South Ayrshire on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland about southwest of Glasgow. It adjoins the larger town of Ayr to the south on the Firth of Clyde coast, the centre of which is about south, an ...

Ayrshire Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of Re ...

and educated at

Ayr Academy Ayr Academy (Scottish Gaelic: ''Acadamaidh Inbhir Àir'') is a non-denominational secondary school situated within the Craigie Estate area at University Avenue in Ayr, South Ayrshire. It is a comprehensive school for children of ages 11–18 fro ...

. After service in the RAF, he studied at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

and graduated with an Honours degree in Celtic studies. He was a frequent contributor to ''Catalyst'' and ''

Gairm ''Gairm'' was a Scottish Gaelic quarterly magazine founded in 1951 by Derick Thomson, and Finlay J. MacDonald (Fionnlagh Domhnallach). Its first issue was published in Autumn 1952. MacDonald served as an editor until 1964; Thomson remained presen ...

'' magazines and subsequently became the second editor of ''Catalyst''. As a young writer, he studied the poets of the

, and viewed 'modern assertions that "Scots was dying in the time of

Burns Burns may refer to: * Burn, an injury (plural) People: * Burns (surname), includes list of people and characters Business: * Burns London, a British guitar maker Places: ;In the United States * Burns, Colorado, unincorporated community in Eagle ...

" as the assertions of dyed-in-the-wool townies.

Career

Neill lived in

Crossmichael Crossmichael ( gd, Crois Mhìcheil) is a small village on the east side of Loch Ken in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire, about north of Castle Douglas in Scotland. Crossmichael is also the name of the civil parish in Kirkcudbright ...

in Kirkcudbrightshire,

Galloway Galloway ( ; sco, Gallowa; la, Gallovidia) is a region in southwestern Scotland comprising the historic counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. It is administered as part of the council area of Dumfries and Galloway. A native or i ...

and taught English at Castle Douglas High School; his wife taught at the primary school. Occasionally he would sicken of teaching English and conduct lessons in Scots instead.

Awards

The Gaelic poetry of William Neill took the National Mòd's bardic crown at

Aviemore Aviemore (; gd, An Aghaidh Mhòr ) is a town and tourist resort, situated within the Cairngorms National Park in the Highlands of Scotland. It is in the Badenoch and Strathspey committee area, within the Highland council area. The town is popul ...

in 1969. Other awards for his poetry have included The Grierson Verse Prize (1970), Sloan Prize (1970) and a

Scottish Arts Council The Scottish Arts Council ( gd, Comhairle Ealain na h-Alba, sco, Scots Airts Cooncil) was a Scottish public body responsible for the funding, development and promotion of the arts in Scotland. The Council primarily distributed funding from the ...

Book Award (1985).

Works

*''Scotland's Castle'', Reprographia (Gordon Wright), 1969 *''Four Points of a Saltire'', Reprographia (Gordon Wright), 1970 *''Then and Now: poems and songs'', W. Neill *''Poems'', Akros Publications, 1970 *''Despatches Home'', Reprographia (Gordon Wright), 1972, *''Wild Places: Poems in Three Leids'', Luath Press, 1985 *''Making Tracks: and other poems'', Gordon Wright Publishing, 1988, *''Straight Lines'', Blackstaff Press, 1992, *''Tales frae the Odyssey o Homer'', Saltire Society, 1992, *''Selected Poems, 1969-1992'', Canongate Press, 1994, *''A Hantle o Romanesco Sonnets bi Giuseppe Gioachino Belli (1791-1863)'', Burnside Press, 1995, *''Galloway Landscapes: poems'', URR Publications, 1981, ; Previous Parrot Press, 1997 *''Caledonian Cramboclink'', Luath Press, 2000,

Later life

He died in Munches Park Residential Home in

Dalbeattie Dalbeattie (, sco, Dawbeattie, gd, Dail Bheithe meaning 'haugh of the birch' or ''Dail'' ''bhàite'' 'drowned (''i.e.'' liable to flood) haugh') is a town in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Dalbea ...

on 5 April 2010.

References

External links

*
John Hudson interviews William Neill
booksfromscotland, May 22, 2008 1922 births 2010 deaths Scots Makars Scottish Renaissance 20th-century Scottish Gaelic poets 21st-century Scottish Gaelic poets 20th-century Irish-language poets Irish language outside Ireland Lallans poets 20th-century Scottish poets Scottish male poets Alumni of the University of Edinburgh People educated at Ayr Academy 20th-century British male writers {{Scotland-writer-stub