"Scottish Fiction" redirects here; for the Idlewild album, see Scottish Fiction: Best of 1997–2007.

Scottish literature is literature written in Scotland or by Scottish writers. It includes literature written in English, Scottish Gaelic, Scots, Brythonic, French, Latin and any other language in which a piece of literature was ever written within the boundaries of modern Scotland.

The people of northern Britain spoke forms of Celtic languages. Much of the earliest Welsh literature was actually composed in or near the country we now call Scotland, as Brythonic speech (the ancestor of Welsh) was not then confined to Wales and Cornwall. While all modern scholarship indicates that the Picts spoke a Brythonic language (based on surviving placenames, personal names and historical evidence), none of their literature seems to have survived into the modern era.

Some of the earliest literature known to have been composed in Scotland includes:

• Brythonic (Old Welsh):
  • The Gododdin (attributed to Aneirin), c. 6th century
  • The Battle of Gwen Ystrad (attributed to Taliesin), late 6th century
• Gaelic:
  • Elegy for St Columba by Dallan Forgaill, c. 597
  • In Praise of St Columba by Beccan mac Luigdech of Rum, c. 677
• Latin:
  • Prayer for Protection (attributed to St Mugint), c. mid-6th century
  • Altus Prosator ("The High Creator", attributed to St Columba), c. 597
• Old English
  • The Dream of the Rood, c. 700 (the only surviving fragment of Northumbrian Old English from early Medieval Scotland)

Gael was actually what the word Scot meant in English before c. 1500.^{[citation needed]} Between c. 1200 and c. 1700 the learned Gaelic elite of both Scotland and Ireland shared a literary form of Gaelic. It is possible that more Middle Irish literature was written in medieval Scotland than is often thought, but has not survived because the Gaelic literary establishment of eastern Scotland died out before the 14th century. Some Gaelic texts written in Scotland have survived in Irish sources. Gaelic literature written in Scotland before the 14th century includes the Lebor Bretnach, the product of a flourishing Gaelic literary establishment at the monastery of Abernethy.

The first known text to be composed in the form of northern Middle English spoken in the Lowlands (now called Early Scots) didn't appear until the 14th century. It is clear from John Barbour, and a plethora of other evidence, that the Fenian Cycle flourished in Scotland. There are allusions to Gaelic legendary characters in later Anglo-Scottish literature (oral and written).

In the 13th century, French flourished as a literary language, and produced the Roman de Fergus, the earliest piece of non-Celtic vernacular literature to come from Scotland. Moreover, many other stories in the Arthurian Cycle, written in French and preserved only outside Scotland, are thought by some scholars (D.D.R. Owen for instance) to have been written in Scotland.

In addition to French, Latin too was a literary language. Famous examples would be the Inchcolm Antiphoner and the Carmen de morte Sumerledi, a poem which exults triumphantly the victory of the citizens of Glasgow over Somailre mac Gilla Brigte. And of course, the most important medieval work written in Scotland, the Vita Columbae, was also written in Latin.

The first surviving major text in Early Scots literature is John Barbour's Brus (1375) composed under the patronage of Robert II.^[1] Barbour is referred to as the father of Scots poetry in parallel with his contemporary, Chaucer, who independently occupies a similar position vis a vis the English canon. Wyntoun's Kronykil and Blind Harry's Wallace followed Barbour in their use of the "Brus" genre, a blend of historical romance with verse chronicle. Scots versions of popular continental romances were also produced in the period, for example: Launcelot o the Laik and The Buik of Alexander.

Classical, French and Chaucerian literary language was an increasing influence on Scots poetry in the 15th century which saw the use of an increasing range of genres. Much Middle Scots literature was produced by makars, poets with links to the royal Court. At least two of Scotland's kings in the period were themselves makars, James I (who wrote The Kingis Quair) and his descendant James VI. Many of the makars had university education and so were also connected with the Kirk. However, Dunbar's Lament for the Makaris (c.1505) provides evidence of a wider tradition of secular writing outside of Court and Kirk now largely lost.^[2]

Gaelic was also still a major language in Scotland and Walter Kennedy, one of the makars associated with the court of James IV, may have written works in the language, although only examples of his poetry in Scots survive. Writers such as Robert Henryson, William Dunbar, Walter Kennedy, Gavin Douglas and David Lyndsay led a golden age in Scottish literature. The survival of many of their works is due, in part, to a number of mid-16th century manuscript collectors, such as George Bannatyne, who were instrumental in the transmission of works from the Middle Scots period. Many important figures — particularly Henryson — wrote before the advent of the printing in Scotland (c.1508).

Scots prose also developed in the period before printing. One of the earliest surviving original prose works is John Ireland's The Meroure of Wyssdome (1490), although there are earlier fragments of original Scots prose, such as the Auchinleck Chronicle. Some prose translations of French books of chivalry survive from the 1450s. In the 16th century, after the advent of printing, John Bellenden translated Hector Boece's Historia Gentis Scotorum as Chroniklis of Scotland (published 1536) as a commission from of James V. He also translated the first five books of Livy.

The landmark work in the reign of James IV was Gavin Douglas's Eneados, the first complete translation of a major classical text in an Anglian language, finished in 1513. Its reception however was overshadowed by the Flodden disaster that same year, and the political instability that followed in the kingdom. Another major work, David Lyndsay's Ane Pleasant Satyre of the Thrie Estaitis, later in the century, is a surviving example of a dramatic tradition in the period that has otherwise largely been lost. But the current of Scottish literature remained strong. At the end of the century, James VI another royal patron of literature and music, founded the Castalian Band, a group of makars and musicians in the court, based on the model of the Pléiade in France. The courtier and makar Alexander Montgomerie was a leading member. However this cultural centre was lost after the 1603 Union of the Crowns when James shifted his court to London.

The Scottish ballad tradition can be traced back to the early 17th century. Francis James Child's compilation, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (1882–1898) contains many examples, such as The Elfin Knight (first printed around 1610) and Lord Randal. In this period, Scotland began to see more anglicisation among some social classes, although Lowland Scots was still spoken by the vast majority of the population of the Lowlands. THis was the time when many of the oral ballads from the borders and the North East began to be written down. Literary writers of the period include Robert Sempill (c.1595-1665), Lady Wardlaw and Lady Grizel Baillie.

Although after union with England, Scotland increasingly adopted English language and wider cultural norms, its literature developed a distinct national identity and began to enjoy an international reputation. Allan Ramsay (1686-1758) laid the foundations of a reawakening of interest in older Scottish literature, as well as leading the trend for pastoral poetry, helping to develop the Habbie stanza as a poetic form.^[3] James Macpherson was the first Scottish poet to gain an international reputation, claiming to have found poetry written by Ossian, he published translations that acquired international popularity, being proclaimed as a Celtic equivalent of the Classical epics. Fingal written in 1762 was speedily translated into many European languages, and its deep appreciation of natural beauty and the melancholy tenderness of its treatment of the ancient legend did more than any single work to bring about the Romantic movement in European, and especially in German, literature, influencing Herder and Goethe.^[4] Eventually it became clear that the poems were not direct translations from the Gaelic, but flowery adaptations made to suit the aesthetic expectations of his audience.^[5]

Robert Burns and Walter Scott were highly influenced by the Ossian cycle. Burns, an Ayrshire poet and lyricist, is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and a major figure in the Romantic movement. As well as making original compositions, Burns also collected folk songs from across Scotland, often revising or adapting them. His poem (and song) "Auld Lang Syne" is often sung at Hogmanay (the last day of the year), and "Scots Wha Hae" served for a long time as an unofficial national anthem of the country.^[6] Scott began as a poet and also collected and published Scottish ballads. His first prose work, Waverley in 1814, is often called the first historical novel.^[7] It launched a highly successful career that probably more than any other figure helped define and popularise Scottish cultural identity.^[8]

In the late 19th century, a number of Scottish-born authors achieved international reputations. Robert Louis Stevenson's work included the urban Gothic novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886), and played a major part in developing the historical adventure in books like Kidnapped and Treasure Island. Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories helped found the tradition of detective fiction. The "kailyard tradition" at the end of the century, brought elements of fantasy and folklore back into fashion as can be seen in the work of figures like J. M. Barrie, most famous for his creation of Peter Pan and George MacDonald whose works including Phantasies played a major part in the creation of the fantasy genre.^[9]

In the early 20th century there was a new surge of activity in Scottish literature, influenced by modernism and resurgent nationalism, known as the Scottish Renaissance.^[10] The leading figure in the movement was Hugh MacDiarmid (the pseudonym of Christopher Murray Grieve). MacDiarmid attempted to revive the Scots language as a medium for serious literature in poetic works including "A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle" (1936), developing a form of Synthetic Scots that combined different regional dialects and archaic terms.^[10] Other writers that emerged in this period, and are often treated as part of the movement, include the poets Edwin Muir and William Soutar, the novelists Neil Gunn, George Blake, Nan Shepherd, A J Cronin, Naomi Mitchison, Eric Linklater and Lewis Grassic Gibbon, and the playwright James Bridie. All were born within a fifteen-year period (1887 and 1901) and, although they cannot be described as members of a single school they all pursued an exploration of identity, rejecting nostalgia and parochialism and engaging with social and political issues.^[10]

Some writers that emerged after the Second World War followed MacDiarmid by writing in Scots, including Robert Garioch and Sydney Goodsir Smith. Others demonstrated a greater interest in English language poetry, among them Norman MacCaig, George Bruce and Maurice Lindsay.^[10][11] George Mackay Brown from Orkney, and and Iain Crichton Smith from Lewis, wrote both poetry and prose fiction shaped by their distinctive island backgrounds.^[10] The Glaswegian poet Edwin Morgan became known for translations of works from a wide range of European languages. He was also the first Scots Makar (the official national poet), appointed by the inaugural Scottish government in 2004.^[12] Many major Scottish post-war novelists, such as Muriel Spark, James Kennaway, Alexander Trocchi, Jessie Kesson and Robin Jenkins spent much or most of their lives outside Scotland, but often dealt with Scottish themes, as in Spark's Edinburgh-set The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961)^[10] and Kennaway's script for the film Tunes of Glory (1956).^[13] Successful mass-market works included the action novels of Alistair MacLean, and the historical fiction of Dorothy Dunnett.^[10] A younger generation of novelists that emerged in the 1960s and 1970s included Shena Mackay, Alan Spence, Allan Massie and the work of William McIlvanney.^[10]

From the 1980s Scottish literature enjoyed another major revival, particularly associated with a group of Glasgow writers focused around meetings in the house of critic, poet and teacher Philip Hobsbaum. Also important in the movement was Peter Kravitz, editor of Polygon Books. Members of the group that would come to prominence as writers included James Kelman, Alasdair Gray, Liz Lochhead, Tom Leonard and Aonghas MacNeacail.^[10] In the 1990s major, prize winning, Scottish novels that emerged from this movement included Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting (1993), Warner’s Morvern Caller (1995), Gray’s Poor Things (1992) and Kelman’s How Late It Was, How Late (1994).^[10] These works were linked by a sometimes overtly political reaction to Thatcherism that explored marginal areas of experience and used vivid vernacular language (including expletives and Scots dialect). Scottish crime fiction has been a major area of growth with the success of novelists including Val McDermid, Frederic Lindsay, Christopher Brookmyre, Quentin Jardine, Denise Mina and particularly the success of Edinburgh’s Ian Rankin and his Inspector Rebus novels.^[10] This period also saw the emergence of a new generation of Scottish poets that became leading figures on the UK stage, including Don Paterson, Robert Crawford, Kathleen Jamie and Carol Anne Duffy.^[10] Glasgow-born Carol Ann Duffy was named as Poet Laureate in May 2009, the first woman, the first Scot and the first openly gay poet to take the post.^[14]

• Association for Scottish Literary Studies
• British literature
• History of the Scots language
• Scottish Gaelic literature
• Golden Treasury of Scottish Poetry
• Modern Scottish Poetry (Faber)
• Sir Patrick Spens
• The Bonny Earl of Murray
• Book of Deer
• Walter Scott MacFarlane
• Books in the "Famous Scots Series"

• Bernard Sellin (coord.), Voices from Modern Scotland: Janice Galloway, Alasdair Gray, CRINI (Centre de Recherche sur les Identités Nationales et l'Interculturalité), Nantes, 2007, 143 p., ISBN 2-916424-10-5.

• The Spread of Scottish Printing, digitised items between 1508 and 1900