Literature written in Scotland or by Scottish writers
"Scottish Fiction" redirects here. For the Idlewild album, see Scottish Fiction: Best of 1997–2007.
Three great men of Scottish literature: busts of Burns, Scott and Stevenson
Scottish literature is literature written in Scotland or by Scottish writers. It includes works in English, Scottish Gaelic, Scots, Brythonic, French, Latin, Norn or other languages written within the modern boundaries of Scotland.
The earliest extant literature written in what is now Scotland, was composed in Brythonic speech in the sixth century and has survived as part of Welsh literature. In the following centuries there was literature in Latin, under the influence of the Catholic Church, and in Old English, brought by Anglian settlers. As the state of Alba developed into the kingdom of Scotland from the eighth century, there was a flourishing literary elite who regularly produced texts in both Gaelic and Latin, sharing a common literary culture with Ireland and elsewhere. After the Davidian Revolution of the thirteenth century a flourishing French language culture predominated, while Norse literature was produced from areas of Scandinavian settlement. The first surviving major text in Early Scots literature is the fourteenth-century poet John Barbour's epic Brus, which was followed by a series of vernacular versions of medieval romances. These were joined in the fifteenth century by Scots prose works.
In the early modern era royal patronage supported poetry, prose and drama. James V's court saw works such as Sir David Lindsay of the Mount's The Thrie Estaitis. In the late sixteenth century James VI became patron and member of a circle of Scottish court poets and musicians known as the Castalian Band. When he acceded to the English throne in 1603 many followed him to the new court, but without a centre of royal patronage the tradition of Scots poetry subsided. It was revived after union with England in 1707 by figures including Allan Ramsay and James Macpherson. The latter's Ossian Cycle made him the first Scottish poet to gain an international reputation. He helped inspire Robert Burns, considered by many to be the national poet, and Walter Scott, whose Waverley Novels did much to define Scottish identity in the nineteenth century. Towards the end of the Victorian era a number of Scottish-born authors achieved international reputations, including Robert Louis Stevenson, Arthur Conan Doyle, J. M. Barrie and George MacDonald.
In the twentieth century there was a surge of activity in Scottish literature, known as the Scottish Renaissance. The leading figure, Hugh MacDiarmid, attempted to revive the Scots language as a medium for serious literature. Members of the movement were followed by a new generation of post-war poets including Edwin Morgan, who would be appointed the first Scots Makar by the inaugural Scottish government in 2004. From the 1980s Scottish literature enjoyed another major revival, particularly associated with writers including James Kelman and Irvine Welsh. Scottish poets who emerged in the same period included Carol Ann Duffy, who was named as the first Scot to be UK Poet Laureate in May 2009.
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Scottishliterature is literature written in Scotland or by Scottish writers. It includes works in English, Scottish Gaelic, Scots, Brythonic, French,...
Scottish Gaelic literature refers to literary works composed in the Scottish Gaelic language, which is, like Irish and Manx, a member of the Goidelic branch...
Scotland (Scots: Scotland; Scottish Gaelic: Alba) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's...
is in the various Scottishliterature articles. The article Literature in the other languages of Britain focuses on the literatures written in the other...
culture of Scotland refers to the patterns of human activity and symbolism associated with Scotland and the Scottish people. The Scottish flag is blue...
Scottishliterature in the Middle Ages is literature written in Scotland, or by Scottish writers, between the departure of the Romans from Britain in the...
includes literature written in English, Scottish Gaelic and Scots, in forms including poetry, drama and novels. After the Union in 1707 Scottishliterature developed...
Ireland after 1922). Literature in Anglo-Saxon (Old English) is treated as English literature and literature in Scots as Scottishliterature. The nature of...
Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as both Irish and Manx, developed out...
Portuguese literature Romanian literature Russian literatureScottishliterature Serbian literature Slovak literature Slovene literature Sorbian literature Spanish...
nationalism". Scottish "national drama" emerged in the early 1800s, as plays with specifically Scottish themes began to dominate the Scottish stage. Theatres...
Scottishliterature in the nineteenth century includes all written and published works in Scotland or by Scottish writers in the period. It includes literature...
Literature in modern Scotland is literature written in Scotland, or by Scottish writers, since the beginning of the twentieth century. It includes literature...
The Scottish people or Scots (Scots: Scots fowk; Scottish Gaelic: Albannaich) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland. Historically, they emerged...
length example. In Danish literature, the style is attested since Leonora Christina (1621–1698) (and is, outside literature, even today common in colloquial...
theatre Literature of Northern Ireland Literature in the other languages of Britain Scottishliterature Theatre in Scotland Welsh literature in English...
to Scottish Studies. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 123. ISBN 9781527508019. Carruthers, Gerard. (2009). ScottishLiterature, p...
Scottish People, 1750–1918. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-198-20515-5. OL 1122201M. Browen, Ian, ed., The Edinburgh History of ScottishLiterature (3...
1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns...
Scotland, Politics of Scotland, Economy of Scotland, Languages of Scotland, Scottishliterature, Gaelic literature and of Scottish people in Scotland...
Learned Orders and Literati in Medieval Scotland", Scottish Studies, 12 (1), The Journal of the School of Scottish Studies University of Edinburgh: 65 Celtic...
Literature in early modern Scotland is literature written in Scotland or by Scottish writers between the Renaissance in the early sixteenth century and...
the boundaries of modern Scotland, or by Scottish people. Much of the earliest Welsh literature was composed in or near Scotland, but only written down...
the Scottish version of modernism. It is sometimes referred to as the Scottish literary renaissance, although its influence went beyond literature into...
Scottish Enlightenment (Scots: Scots Enlichtenment, Scottish Gaelic: Soillseachadh na h-Alba) was the period in 18th- and early-19th-century Scotland...
Medieval Serbian literature Medieval Scottishliterature Medieval Spanish literature Medieval Welsh literature Medieval poetry Medieval drama Medieval...
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