Sydney Goodsir Smith
Sydney Goodsir Smith (26 October 1915 – 15 January 1975) was a New Zealand-born Scottish poet, artist, dramatist and novelist. He wrote poetry in literary Scots often referred to as Lallans (Lowlands dialect), and was a major figure of the Scottish Renaissance.
Sydney Goodsir Smith | |
|---|---|
| Born | 26 October 1915 Wellington, New Zealand |
| Died | 15 January 1975 (aged 59) Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Nationality | New Zealand |
Life
He was born in Wellington, New Zealand, the son of Catherine Goodsir Gelenick and Sydney Smith, a pioneer in forensic science who later became a Regius Professor in forensic medicine at the University of Edinburgh. [1]
He moved to Edinburgh with his family in 1928.[2] He was educated at Malvern College. He went to the University of Edinburgh to study medicine, but abandoned that, and started to study history at Oriel College, Oxford; whence he was expelled, but managed to complete a degree. He also claimed to have studied art in Italy, wine in France and mountains in Bavaria.[3]
His first poetry collection of many, Skail Wind, was published in 1941. Carotid Cornucopius (1947) was a comic novel about Edinburgh. His A Short Introduction to Scottish Literature, based on four broadcast talks, was published in 1951.[4] His play The Wallace formed part of the 1960 Edinburgh Festival.
Smith was also associated with the editorial board for the Lines Review magazine.[5][6]
Under the Eildon tree (1948), a long poem in 24 parts, is considered by many his finest work;[2] The Grace of God and the Meth-Drinker is a much-anthologised poem. Kynd Kittock's land (1964) was a commission of a poem to be televised by the BBC.
He died in the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh[5] after a heart attack outside a newsagents on Dundas Street in Edinburgh, and was buried in Dean Cemetery in the northern 20th century section, towards the north-west. His wife, Hazel Williamson, lies with him.
Memorials
He is commemorated by a "pavement poem" in the "Makars' Court" a section of James Court off the Lawnmarket on the Royal Mile.
Works
- Skail Wind - poems, Edinburgh, The Chalmers press, 1941
- The Wanderer, and other poems, Edinburgh, Oliver and Boyd, 1943
- The Deevil’s Waltz, Glasgow, W. MacLellan, 1946
- Selected Poems, Edinburgh, published for The Saltire Society by Oliver and Boyd, 1947
- A Short Introduction to Scottish Literature, Serif Books, 1951
- So Late into the Night - fifty lyrics, 1944-1948, with a preface by Edith Sitwell, London, P. Russell, 1952
- Robert Ferguson, 1750-1774, Edinburgh, Nelson, 1952
- Orpheus and Eurydice - a dramatic poem, Edinburgh, M. Macdonald, 1955
- Figs and Thistles, Edinburgh, Oliver and Boyd, 1959
- The Wallace, a triumph in five acts, Edinburgh, Oliver and Boyd, 1960
- Carotid Cornucopius, caird of the Cannon Gait and voyeur of the Outlook Touer, Edinburgh, M. Macdonald, 1964
- Kynd Kittock’s land, Edinburgh, M. Macdonald, 1965
- Fifteen Poems and a Play, Edinburgh, Southside, 1969
- Collected Poems, 1941-1975, with an introduction by Hugh McDiarmid, London, John Calder, 1975
- The Drawings of Sydney Goodsir Smith, poet, collected by Ian Begg, edited by Joy Hendry, Edinburgh, Chapman Press, on behalf of The New Auk Society, 1998
- A Publisher of the Nineties (Leonard Smithers) in The Holiday Book. 1946 (Ed. by John Singer).
As editor:
- Robert Fergusson, 1750–1774: essays by various hands (Edinburgh: Nelson, 1952)
- Gavin Douglas: a selection from his poetry (Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd, 1959)
- The Merry Muses of Caledonia, with James Barke and John DeLancey Ferguson (Edinburgh: M. Macdonald, 1959).
- Hugh MacDiarmid: a Festschrift, with Kulgin Duval (Edinburgh: K.D. Duval, 1962)
- A Choice of Burns’s Poems and Songs (London: Faber and Faber, 1966)
References
- "NZEDGE Legends — Sydney Smith, Forensic Expert — Scientists". NZEDGE. 25 June 2007. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
- "About Sydney Goodsir Smith". University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
- Smith, Sydney Goodsir (1947), Selected Poems, Saltire Modern Poets series, Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh, back cover
- Smith, Sydney Goodsir (1951), A Short Introduction to Scottish Literature, Serif Books, Edinburgh
- "Smith, Sydney Goodsir". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/58855. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- Royle, Trevor (29 April 1998). "Lines reaches the end". The Scotsman – via HighBeam Research (subscription required) . Archived from the original on 29 March 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
