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Sheenagh Pugh

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Letter

Dear Tim,

     Terry Gifford complains again (Thumbscrew 16), as he did in his book, that George Mackay Brown’s view of Orkney’s past didn’t include the Clearances. There’s a reason for that: the Clearances left Orkney almost untouched. There is literally only one example of a cleared croft village to be found there. This was not out of altruism on the part of the local lairds but because most of Orkney’s land is too good for sheep – if you want to grow cows you need someone permanently on the land with them. The population drift from Orkney was voluntary, which was one reason GMB found it so sad. GMB told me he had tried to explain this to Gifford when answering his questions; obviously it didn’t get across.

     John Lucas, of course, is right. I didn’t mean to suggest English poetry had never been concerned to commemorate, and would agree that the period he mentions did. I think the difference with Celtic poetry, especially Irish and Welsh, is that at no period do we ever not do it...

Best Wishes
Sheenagh Pugh

 

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