A Son of the Rock

A Collection of Nan Shepherd’s Writing. Galileo Publishers, 2018, 146 p, plus i p Contents, vii p Introduction by Charlotte Peacock, ii p List of works in the order printed here, and ii p Notes.

The book contains a story of novella length, some of Shepherd’s landscape/natural world writing, poems, literary appreciation, and fragments from life. In all of these Shepherd’s writing is crisp, clear and insightful.

Part I Descent From the Cross: The story of a man who was hung up by his wrists in the Courland Forest as a POW during the Great War and who returns to Scotland in a poor state. Betsy determines to marry him convinced he will write a classic but his weakness means that is a forlorn hope. Even though she had always been capable of providing for herself he is racked by guilt that he cannot support her.

Part II The Deeside Field Writings: Four pieces focusing on Deeside.
Colours of Deeside describes all of the colours, natural and man-made, Shepherd discerned in her explorations of the area; the many blues and hot colours, the varied green, the white and the black, the colour of water under different conditions, the intrusion of human influence into the landscape. James McGregor and the Downies of Braemar outlines the sojourn of one family in the highest croft in Scotland and the legacy which James McGregor managed to fashion out of uncompromising Colours of Deeside. Wild Geese in Glen Callater is an observation of migrating geese manœuvring to change course in the teeth of a gale. The Lupin Island was colonised by those plants from seeds deposited by the river’s flow before being stripped bare by a deluge. Many years later, courtesy of efforts to repair a bridge, a newer island formed and the Lupins returned.

Part III Poems: contains 12 of Shepherd’s poems Those written between 1918 and 1938 are classic sonnets, the later ones more free form though all employ rhyme.

Part IV Poets: In this section Shepherd discusses The Poetry of Hugh MacDiarmid (in whom, despite his detractors, she states she is a believer– in particular she notes the two main criticisms, of his politics and his vocabulary – the work of Marion Angus (whose lyricism sings) and Charles Murray (rooted in the Aberdeenshire landscape.) The latter is “especially good on winter” but Shepherd then adds, “as what Scottish poet is not?” Winter, she says, releases our (ie that of Scots) perceptiveness.

Part V Prose Pieces: Smuts – not the South African General, sadly but not unsurprisingly – is a homage to those smudges or blots which enable perfection to be appreciated, Pixies and Or’nary Peoples is how a child divides up for the author the world of stories, On Noises in the Night emphasises that it is the fact they happen in the night that makes such noises so significant, Schools and Schoolmistresses eulogises those women whom Shepherd taught at Aberdeen College of Education and who went to the furthest wildest places in pursuit of their calling, The Old Wives celebrates the idiosyncrasies and worth of the older woman, Things I Shall Never Know is a series of vignettes from Shepherd’s life each of which left her wondering.

Historical note: A couple of times Shepherd refers to “the pink of asbestos roofing” on sheds and such. I do hope that’s all been removed now.

Pedant’s corner:- “what that truth was he could ever quite discern” (never makes more sense,) “trying to sell him things he either needed nor wanted” (neither needed nor wanted,) outcastes (usually outcasts, but outcastes might be suitable in India,) “a plainness of white that at present is staring” (startling?) “-Kincardine, O’Neill” (the village’s name is Kincardine O’Neill, which appeared correctly a page or so later, and that ‘–’ ought to have had a space after it,) thoct (usually thocht – as it is rendered elsewhere,) “the mother fo” (mother of,) divins (divines,) “at the me who abrogate” (at the men who,) a sentence that is a question but missing the appropriate question mark, Bagdad (nowadays spelled Baghdad.) “All schools are not so big as the High School” (In English this would be better as ‘Not all schools are so big’ but this may be a Grampian idiom.) “Yet there a hundred things besides” (Yet there are a hundred things,) “on Tuesday’s, another on Wednesdays” (the comma is misplaced, it should come after ‘another’.)