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William Neill (poet)

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William Neill
Born(1922-02-22)22 February 1922
Ayrshire, Scotland
Died5 April 2010(2010-04-05) (aged 88)
Dalbeattie, Scotland
Resting placeCrossmichael Churchyard
OccupationPoet
NationalityScottish
Alma materEdinburgh University
GenrePoetry

William Neill (22 February 1922 – 5 April 2010) was an Ayrshire-born poet who wrote in Scottish and Irish Gaelic, Scots and English. He was a major contributing voice to the Scottish Renaissance.[1]

Early life

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Neill was born in Prestwick, Ayrshire and educated at Ayr Academy.[2] After service in the RAF, he studied at the University of Edinburgh and graduated with an Honours degree in Celtic studies.[3] He was a frequent contributor to Catalyst and Gairm magazines and subsequently became the second editor of Catalyst. As a young writer, he studied the poets of the Scottish Renaissance, and viewed 'modern assertions that "Scots was dying in the time of Burns" as the assertions of dyed-in-the-wool townies.

Career

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Neill lived in Crossmichael in Kirkcudbrightshire, Galloway and taught English at Castle Douglas High School; his wife taught at the primary school. Occasionally he would sicken of teaching English and conduct lessons in Scots instead.

Awards

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The Gaelic poetry of William Neill took the National Mòd's bardic crown at Aviemore in 1969.[2][4] Other awards for his poetry have included The Grierson Verse Prize (1970), Sloan Prize (1970) and a Scottish Arts Council Book Award (1985).

Works

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  • Scotland's Castle, Reprographia (Gordon Wright), 1969
  • Four Points of a Saltire, Reprographia (Gordon Wright), 1970
  • Then and Now: poems and songs, W. Neill
  • Poems, Akros Publications, 1970
  • Despatches Home, Reprographia (Gordon Wright), 1972, ISBN 0-903065-07-X
  • Wild Places: Poems in Three Leids, Luath Press, 1985
  • Making Tracks: and other poems, Gordon Wright Publishing, 1988, ISBN 0-903065-65-7
  • Straight Lines, Blackstaff Press, 1992, ISBN 0-856404756
  • Tales frae the Odyssey o Homer, Saltire Society, 1992, ISBN 0-854110496
  • Selected Poems, 1969-1992, Canongate Press, 1994, ISBN 978-0-86241-476-4
  • A Hantle o Romanesco Sonnets bi Giuseppe Gioachino Belli (1791-1863), Burnside Press, 1995, ISBN 0-9527288-0-X
  • Galloway Landscapes: poems, URR Publications, 1981, ISBN 978-0-9507609-0-2; Previous Parrot Press, 1997
  • Caledonian Cramboclink, Luath Press, 2000, ISBN 978-0-946487-53-0

Later life

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He died in Munches Park Residential Home in Dalbeattie on 5 April 2010.[3]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "William Neill, Poet". The Herald. 11 April 2010.
  2. ^ a b "Lowlander learning Gaelic will be Bard of the Mod". The Herald. Glasgow. 21 October 1969. p. 11. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
  3. ^ a b Wright, Gordon (20 April 2010). "Obituary: William Neill". The Scotsman. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
  4. ^ "Address for bard". The Herald. Glasgow. 12 March 1970. p. 24. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
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