Soutar Materials in the Hugh MacDiarmid Papers

In particular, there are significant materials connected to MacDiarmid's edition of Soutar's Collected Poems (London: Andrew Dakers Ltd, 1948). These include original MSS by Soutar, transcripts of Soutar MSS by his literary executor the Rev. David Stevens, MSS of MacDiarmid's 'Introduction' and other editorial materials, printers' TSS, galley proofs, and correspondence with publishers. Further correspondence includes letters from Soutar to MacDiarmid and letters to MacDiarmid from other major Scottish literary figures including Helen Cruickshank and Maurice Lindsay which make mention of Soutar.

A. Literary Manuscripts

1) Materials Relating to Soutar's Collected Poems

MS 2985

• Galley Proofs of Collected Poems

MS 2989

• 2 incomplete printers' TSS of 'Whigmaleeries' section of Collected Poems (missing 64 and 68 poems respectively), with MS annotations by MacDiarmid
• Incomplete printers' TS of 'Lyrics in English' section of Collected Poems (108 of 231 poems), with MS annotations by MacDiarmid

MS 2990

• MS collection of Soutar's verse as copied by the Rev. David Stevens (723 ff.)

MS 2991

• TSS of 14 poems by Soutar, with MS annotations in Soutar's hand
• MSS of 12 poems by Soutar, in the poet's own hand
• MS of 'Glossary: From an Unpublished Selection of "Whigmaleeries" by William Soutar', in Soutar’s own hand, with MS cover note by MacDiarmid
• TS and MS of 'Introduction' by MacDiarmid to Collected Poems
• TS of essay 'William Soutar' by MacDiarmid published in Poetry Scotland, 2 (1945)
• 3 MSS of 'Indexes of Poems' for Collected Poems in MacDiarmid's hand
• MS of 'Dedication' for Collected Poems in MacDiarmid's hand
• 17 letters from Andrew Dakers Ltd (1944-47) and 1 from the Rev. David Stevens (14 September 1944) to MacDiarmid concerning Collected Poems

The TSS include 2 poems excluded from Collected Poems: 'Tormaukin Jean (A Local Variation on a Very Old Theme)' and 'The Sailor-Man'. The MSS include 2 excluded poems: 'The Louse (A Whigmaleerie)' and 'Are You Going our Way?'. MS 2991 also includes TSS of 3 poems by Lillias Scott Forbes: 'Love and Freedom', 'Hert's Sang', and 'The River'.

MS 2992

• Bound TS of The Expectant Silence, with MS annotations, note, and contents list in the hand of the Rev. David Stevens
• Complete TS of 'Lyrics in Scots' section of Collected Poems
• Incomplete TS of 'Lyrics in Scots' (missing 5 poems)
• 2 incomplete TSS of 'Theme and Variation' section of Collected Poems (missing 15 and 27 poems respectively)

The second 'Theme and Variation' TS also contains 5 poems absent from Collected Poems: 'May Life Be Aye Sae Braw (adapted from Pasternak)', 'Better Saut nor Sour', 'The Worm (A Whigmaleerie)', 'The Licht' and 'Pity'.

2) Other Soutar Manuscripts

There are other significant Soutar materials in the Hugh MacDiarmid Papers.

MS 2960

• ‘In the Time of Tyrants’, MS poem sent by Soutar to MacDiarmid (MS 2960.18/74-75)
• ‘The Visitation’, MS poem by Soutar forwarded to MacDiarmid (MS 2960.18/51)

MS 2983

• 'The Permanence of the Young’ and ‘Wi' the World on His Back’, MS poems submitted for the unpublished anthology Scottish Signposts (1943-44), co-edited by Maurice Lindsay and Fred Urquhart (MS 2983)

MS 2985

• William Soutar: The Garden Beyond, TS of screenplay by Douglas Eadie for BBC Omnibus programme, 1977

B. Correspondence

1) Letters from Soutar to MacDiarmid

• 31 letters, 4 postcards, and 1 Christmas card from Soutar to MacDiarmid, 1933-42 (MS 2960.18)

These letters discuss major works by both poets, contain Soutar's thoughts on Marxism, Nationalism, and Modernism, and outline his preference for poetry that derived from the ballad tradition over the 'difficult poetry' to which MacDiarmid was evolving. Mention is made of many important Scottish cultural figures including Helen Cruickshank, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Edwin Muir, F. G. Scott, and Fred Urquhart. The letters also feature pen-and-ink caricatures of MacDiarmid by Soutar. (MS 2960.18 also includes further correspondence from John Soutar, the poet's father, and the Rev. David Stevens.)

2) References to Soutar in Other Letters to MacDiarmid

Soutar is frequently mentioned in other correspondence in the MacDiarmid Papers, including:

• 12 letters from W. R. (William Russell) Aitken to MacDiarmid, 1938-66 (MS 2942.2/50-51, 54, 62-63, 128-31, 134, 138, 145, 147)
• 2 letters from Joe Corrie to MacDiarmid, 16 and 27 February 1951 (MS2946.6/1-3)
• Letter from Helen Cruickshank to MacDiarmid, 23 September 1935, and to Valda Grieve, 24 April 1958 (MS 2946.9/13-14 & 103)
• 7 letters from Maurice Lindsay to MacDiarmid, 10 March-26 October 1944 (MS 2953.3/16, 19, 21-27, 30-31)
• 2 letters from Bessie J. B. MacArthur to MacDiarmid, 31 March 1938 and 2 March 1940 (MS 2953.6/8 & 11)
• 3 letters from W. D. (William Dugald) MacColl to Hugh MacDiarmid, 6 October 1937, 17 November 1941, and 14 August 1943 (MS 2953.9/4-6, 75-79, 84-86)
• Letter from MacDiarmid to R. Crombie Saunders, 19 October 1943 (Gen 2001*/14)
• 2 letters from Douglas Young to MacDiarmid, 17 July 1941 and 22 November 1948 (MS 2961.18/8, 44)

The letter of 22 November 1948 from Douglas Young is sent on behalf of the Renaissance Society and addresses concerns raised by MacDiarmid's edition of Soutar's Collected Poems. It invites MacDiarmid to comment on 'certain discrepancies between the contents as stated by you in the foreword and those actually to be found in the volume as issued by Messrs Dakers'.

C. Signed Presentation Copies

Hugh MacDiarmid's personal library, held in Edinburgh University Library, includes signed presentation copies of the following volumes by Soutar:

• Collected Poems (SD6045) (signed by Soutar's parents, 1948)
• But the Earth Abideth (JA6375) (signed by Soutar, 25 August 1943)
• In the Time of Tyrants (JA6377) (signed by Soutar, Christmas 1939)
• The Expectant Silence (JA6378) (signed by Soutar’s parents, 30 November 1944)
• Poems in Scots (JA6379) (signed by Soutar, 4 November 1935)
• Brief Words (JA6380) (signed by Soutar, 15 March 1935)
• Seeds in the Wind (JA6381) (signed by Soutar, 22 June 1933)

MacDiarmid's library also contains:

• A copy of R. M. Ballantyne's Coral Island presented as a gift to Soutar by his 'Aunt Bessie' in 1905 and subsequently gifted by Soutar to MacDiarmid's son Michael Grieve (SD6073)
• An unsigned copy of Soutar's 1931 volume Conflict (JA6381)

Edinburgh University Library owns another copy of Conflict (JA2381) presented by Soutar to Sir Herbert John Clifford Grierson, Knight Professor of English Literature at Edinburgh University from 1915 to 1935. It is signed by the poet and dated 24 March 1931.