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Click here to watch the Launch of Voices of Scotland plus other videos from the 2019 ASLS Schools Conference.

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Voices of Scotland is an anthology of Scottish poetry with related activities which has been designed for teachers working with students at Second and Third Levels of Curriculum for Excellence. Drawing from their wide experience of teaching in Scottish schools, members of the ASLS Education Committee have selected poems which are accessible and enjoyable and give students a flavour of the richness and breadth of Scotland’s literary and linguistic heritage, from the earliest ballads to contemporary writing. The selection covers a broad range of themes and aims to reflect the linguistic variety of Scottish poetry and, in particular, the diverse voices of Scotland today.

A wide range of reading, writing, listening and talking activities cover many of the outcomes for English. These activities are in no way prescriptive or exhaustive, but are designed to give an idea of how best the poems could be taught and explored. Suggestions are given for students to create their own imaginative responses in writing and drama and to further develop their work into other areas of the curriculum.

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CONTENTS

• IntroductionThe Poems
• Alas! Poor Queen (Marion Angus)
• Arran (Anon.)
• Bewteis of the Fute-ball, The (Anon.)
• Bonnie Earl o’ Moray, The (Anon.)
• Bonnie George Campbell (Anon.)
• Bonnie Lass o’ Fyvie, The (Anon.)
• Bonnie Ship ‘The Diamond’, The (Anon.)
• Dowie Houms o Yarrow, The (Anon.)
• Drumdelgie (Anon.)
• Get Up and Bar the Door (Anon.)
• MacPherson’s Rant (Anon.)
• Son David (Anon.)
• Thomas the Rhymer (Anon.)
• Twa Corbies, The (Anon.)
• Wife of Usher’s Well, The (Anon.)
• Fox and the Salmon Fisher, The (John Barbour)
• Eruption of Vesuvius Letter no. 1, The (Sheena Blackhall)
• Address to the Toothache (Robert Burns)
• Battle of Sherra-moor, The (Robert Burns)
• Braw Wooer, The (Robert Burns)
• To a Louse (Robert Burns)
• Puddock, The (J. M. Caie)
• Chì Mi na Mòr-bheanna / The Mist-Covered Mountains of Home (Iain Camshron/John Cameron)
• Lord Ullin’s Daughter (Thomas Campbell)
• Sniper, The (W. D. Cocker)
• Heirloom (Stewart Conn)
• Springtime (Stewart Conn)
• Black Friday (James Copeland)
• Image o’ God, The (Joe Corrie)
• Alba Einstein (Robert Crawford)
• Rhythm (Iain Crichton Smith)
• Nuair a Bha Sinn òg / When We Were Young (Iain Mac a’ Ghobhainn / Iain Crichton Smith)
• Russian Doll (Christine De Luca)
• New Teacher, The (Jim Douglas)
• Loch Ness Monster’s Husband, The (Carol Ann Duffy)
• Nippy Maclachlan (Carol Ann Duffy)
• Scottish Prince, The (Carol Ann Duffy)
• I That in Heill Wes and Gladness (William Dunbar)
• Magryme, The (William Dunbar)
• Sir Jhon Sinclair Begowth to Dance (William Dunbar)
• Flooers o’ the Forest, The (Jean Elliot)
• New Model Glider (Alec Finlay)
• Captain Puggle (Matthew Fitt)
• I’m Neutral (Robert Garioch)
• On a Cat, Ageing (Alexander Gray)
• Ballad of Janitor MacKay, The (Margaret Green)
• Fox (Ian Hamilton Finlay)
• Garmont of Gud Ladeis, The (Robert Henryson)
• Wolf and the Lamb, The (Robert Henryson)
• Dysart Tide Sonnet (William Hershaw)
• Cam Ye By Athol (James Hogg)
• Lock the Door, Lariston (James Hogg)
• Arraheids (Kathleen Jamie)
• Brendon Gallacher (Jackie Kay)
• Darling (Jackie Kay)
• Grandpa’s Soup (Jackie Kay)
• In My Country (Jackie Kay)
• Maw Broon Visits a Therapist (Jackie Kay)
• Highland Crofter, The (James Kennedy)
• Dropout, The (Tom Leonard)
• Good Thief, The (Tom Leonard)
• For My Grandmother Knitting (Liz Lochhead)
• Metal Raw, The (Liz Lochhead)
• Justing Betwix James Watsoun and Jhone Barbour, The (David Lyndsay)
• Seagull (Brian McCabe)
• Aunt Julia (Norman MacCaig)
• Praise of a Collie  (Norman MacCaig)
• Toad (Norman MacCaig)
• Bonnie Broukit Bairn, The (Hugh MacDiarmid)
• Cearcall a’Chuain / Circle of Ocean (Calum MacDhòmhnaill / Calum MacDonald)
• Wee Magic Stane, The (Johnny McEvoy)
• Ballad of the Q4, The (Matt McGinn)
• Tay Bridge Disaster, The (William McGonagall)
• Cead Deireannach nam Beann (cuibhreann) / Final Farewell to the Bens (extract) (Donnchadh Bàn Mac an t-Saoir / Duncan Bàn Macintyre)
• In Memoriam (Ewart Alan Mackintosh)
• On Vimy Ridge (Ewart Alan Mackintosh)
• Hawk, The (George Mackay Brown)
• Farewell to Glasgow (Jim McLean)
• Glac a’ Bhàis / Death Valley (Somhairle Mac Gill-Eain / Sorley MacLean)
• Holiday na Caillich / The Old Lady’s Holiday Coinneach MacLeòid / Kenneth MacLeod)
• Yellow on the Broom (Adam McNaughtan)
• Changing a Downie Cover (Angela McSeveney)
• Shift and Spin (Ewan McVicar)
• My Lady Culros to Mr Andro Melville (Elizabeth Melville)
• Canedolia: an Off-Concrete Scotch Fantasia (Edwin Morgan)
• First Men on Mercury, The (Edwin Morgan)
• Loch Ness Monster’s Song, The (Edwin Morgan)
• Late Wasp, The (Edwin Muir)
• John o’ Lorn (Neil Munro)
• Whistle, The (Charles Murray)
• Laird o’ Cockpen, The (Carolina Oliphant, Lady Nairne)
• Despatches Home (William Neil)
• Listen tae the Teacher (Nancy Nicolson)
• Feart (Liz Niven)
• Cuimhne / Memory (Catrìona Nicìomhair Parsons / Catriona McIvor Parsons)
• Twa Cats and the Cheese, The (Allan Ramsay)
• My Father, Dying (Alastair Reid)
• short introduction to my Uncle Glen, A (Alan Riach)
• Jock o’ Hazeldean (Walter Scott)
• Lochinvar (Walter Scott)
• Proud Maisie (Walter Scott)
• Johnnie Cope (Adam Skirving)
• Ae Nicht at Amulree (William Soutar)
• Haiku (Alan Spence)
• Heather Ale – A Galloway Legend (Robert Louis Stevenson)
• Spaewife, The (Robert Louis Stevenson)
• Windy Nights (Robert Louis Stevenson)
• Clann Nighean An Sgadain / The Herring Girls (Ruaraidh MacThòmais / Derick Thomson)
• Na Lochlannaich A’ Tighinn Air Tìr An Nis / The Norsemen coming ashore at Ness (Ruaraidh MacThòmais / Derick Thomson)
• Prospecting in Partick (Valerie Thornton)
• Mairi’s Sang (Margaret Tollick)
• Aye, He’s the Big Man (Rab Wilson) 
   
• Biographies
• Index of Titles
• Index of Key Words
• Bibliography
• Glossary