The Magicians of Scotland E-Book

Ron Butlin

• Herausgeber: Polygon
• Kategorie: Poesie und Drama
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015

Seitenzahl: 50

Beschreibung

Following on from the runaway success of The Magicians of Edinburgh, renowned poet and novelist Ron Butlin conjures up Scotland's past, present and future in this new collection. From Skara Brae and the Roman invasion to the independence referendum and beyond, the former Edinburgh Makar explores what Scotland means to itself and to the outside world. With his customary wit and insight, he takes a good hard look at some of its magicians – from James Hutton to Professor Peter Higgs, from Robert Burns to Dame Elizabeth Blackadder and even Tony Blair. Underlying all these poems is a deep love for Scotland's uniqueness, and its magic!

Leseprobe

THE MAGICIANSOF SCOTLAND

Praise for Ron Butlin

‘When I’m asked for a recommendation of a great Scottish novel, [The Sound of My Voice] is my number one choice . . . and his poetry is exceptional’

ALISTAIR BRAIDWOOD in Scots Whay Hae!

‘Remarkable . . . [Ghost Moon] is one of the most powerful and compelling pieces to emerge from the pen of this superb writer’

ALEXANDER MCCALL SMITH

‘[Belonging] is a genuine page-turner, unpredictable and devoid of cliché. I read it in a single sitting . . . The writing is of a rare order’

EDDIE MUELLER in the San Francisco Chronicle

‘One of the great post-war Scottish novels . . . a genius piece of fiction’

IRVINE WELSH

‘Butlin’s novel deserves to be talked about in the same breath as Saul Bellow’s Seize the Day’

Metro

‘An extraordinarily powerful and redemptive work . . . Butlin’s only precursor is Kafka’

Time Out

‘[Butlin] stands as a reminder that a good deal of world-class contemporary poetry and fiction goes largely unnoticed. There are few contemporary British writers whose works are as ripe for, and as thoroughly deserving of rediscovery’

BRIAN HOYLE in British Writers, Supplement XVI

(Scribner’s Sons, USA)

Also by Ron Butlin

FICTION

The Sound of My VoiceNight VisitsThe Tilting RoomVivaldi and the Number 3BelongingNo More AngelsGhost Moon

POETRY

The Wonnerfu Warld o John MiltonStrettoCreatures Tamed by CrueltyThe Exquisite InstrumentRagtime in Unfamiliar BarsHistories of DesireWithout a Backward GlanceThe Magicians of Edinburgh

DRAMA

We’ve Been HadBlending InSweet Dreams

OPERA LIBRETTI

MarkheimDark KingdomFaraway PicturesGood Angel, Bad AngelThe Perfect WomanThe Money ManWedlock

First published in Great Britain in 2015by Polygon,an imprint of Birlinn Ltd

West Newington House10 Newington RoadEdinburghEH9 1QS

www.polygonbooks.co.uk

ISBN 9780857908919

Poems copyright © Ron Butlin 2015

The right of Ron Butlin to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Design and Patent Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical or photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the express written permission of the publisher.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication DataA catalogue record for this book is available on request from the British Library.

Book design and drawings © James HutchesonTypeset in 10/14pt Veridgris MVB

Printed and bound by Bell & Bain Ltd, Glasgow

Contents

Acknowledgements

MAGIC PLACES

The Electric City of Heck

Disposable Buildings Are Made for Disposable Lives

Edinburgh Doesn’t Scan That Easy

Rehearsals for The End of Time

Stations of The Rush Hour

What the Well-Dressed City Wears

The Roman Invasion of Scotland

The Commonwealth Games:

1 Starting the Race

2 Africa

3 Running the Race

4 India (Raga)

5 Caribbean

6 Australia (Dream Time)

7 Glasgow

Near Linton Burnfoot

MAGIC PEOPLE

The Loch Ness Monster’s Post-Referendum Curse

Frédéric Chopin Texts from the Edinburgh Hogmanay Party

Professor Higgs Throws the Biggest Party . . .

Sir James Simpson Sets Foot on a New Planet

James Hutton Learns to Read the Hieroglyphics of the Earth

Tony Blair’s Butterfly Effect

The Kinder Artist

Remembering a Good Friend

A Gaitherin o Scottish Men

My Grandfather Dreams Twice of Flanders

Robert Burns’ First Poem for More Than 200 Years

Prophet Peden Rattles the Prison Bars of the 21St Century

Wilfred Owen Reads Between the Lines

All That We Have

MAGIC FOR ALL

Trident Mantra

A History of the Glass Kingdom

The Composer’s Cat

Darien II

Our Plea to the Balmoral Clock

Whatever Next?

Wee Referendum Burd

An Opera to Last a Lifetime

How to Save the World

Scottish Cat and Scottish Mouse

God Gives the Universe a Second Shove

Scottish Independence as Seen from above Edinburgh Castle

Prayer

Acknowledgements

Grateful thanks are due to the editors of the following publications where some of the poems first appeared: The Stinging Fly (Eire), World Literature Today (USA), Herald, Scottish Review of Books, Gutter, Atlanta Review (USA), Perspectives,Scotsman, Neu! Reekie! #UntitledOne. Some were contained in Without a Backward Glance (Barzan Publishing) or broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and 5. Several of the poems have been jazzed up by Dick Lee for Edinburgh Science, Edinburgh Magic, A Very Edinburgh Celebration and Edinburgh Lily on the Edinburgh Fringe 2013-15. Also for The Games which was first performed by the jazz ensemble Dr Lee’s Prescription, at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2014.

The author appreciates the commissioning of some poems by the Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature, City of Edinburgh Council, Authors Reading Festival, Look Up Edinburgh (Freight Publications), Scottish Opera, Authors’ Licensing and Collection Society. In company with many other Scottish writers, he would like to acknowledge the unfailing kindness and support of the late Gavin Wallace.

Ron Butlin would like to thank Creative Scotland for a Professional Development grant which allowed him to complete The Magicians of Scotland.

Dedication

To my wife Regi, Dick Lee and Anne Evans– magicians all!

MAGIC PLACES

Though brought up in a very small Borders village, I have lived mostly in cities here and abroad. Like much of modern life, my longing to return to village life is untested, and fairly suspect.

The Electric City of Heck

Cattle stumbling their way down to the shallows.The water’s coolness risingTo meet them. Their hooves dry and hardAgainst a clatter of loose stones etc. . . .

Having rusted not quite closed,The sluice gate’s cast-iron lip runsWith several downward streaksOf wet sunlight etc. . . .

Brushstrokes painted on a long-ago afternoon,And erased –The strands of current drift midstream,Their several interlocking patterns describe . . .

Etc. etc. etc. . . .

*

Isn’t it time I trashed such childhood fancies?After all, I live in the electric cityand the electric city lives in me.My pulse is the traffic’s stop-and-go.