Voice of the Bard, The
Living Poets and Ancient Traditions in the Highlands and Islands
Timothy Neat

7 1/2” x 10 1/4” • 356 pages • b&w illus.
ISBN 0862418429 • paperback • $22.95 •

"This classy paperback restores the term 'Bard' to a proper dignity. The bards...talk here with candour and a rare eloquence about their lives and creativity."-The Herald

The Voice of the Bard presents biographical portraits of fourteen poets and singers. All are Scottish Highlanders; most are unknown outside their local communities and all are exponents of rich literary traditions whose origins can be traced to the pre-Christian era. Their work is proof that the ancient bardic tradition is still alive in Scotland today.

This is a book of great originality and importance to the new Scotland and is illustrated with over two hundred previously unpublished photographs and a wide variety of song-poems. It reveals a fascinating, hidden layer in the long history of the Scottish Gaidhealtachd and paints a mini-history of Highland life and thought in the twentieth century.

The bards profiled are crofters, fishermen, seamen, soldiers, weavers, tinkers, roadmen, housewives, and even a television personality. Although they are ‘village bardsí, the range, quality and historical resonance of their work makes them writers of international importance. The people and their songs are at once ancient and modern. Their biographies, reading like compelling short stories touch every corner of the globe, from the battlefields of the two world wars and the Far East to whaling in the Antarctic and cattle droving.

Birlinn

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