I lived from 1898-1943.
I was from Scotland, and am in the English category.
William Soutar was born in Perthshire Scotland on April 28th 1898, and was educated at Perth Academy. Soutar was drafted into the Royal Navy in 1916 but, following World War I, he completed his education at the University of Edinburgh. He began to write poetry in Scottish dialect and language after having grown up hearing and using this language.
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His first work Gleanings of an Undergraduate was published anonymously in 1923. This was followed by Conflict (1931), by which time Soutar was confined to bed with a form of Spondylitis#(1) ( a type of food poisoning which effected his spine, he had contracted this during his war-service) which in the 1920's, was not treatable. His father, who was a master carpenter, built a special room for his son so that he could look out on the natural world, which he loved so much.
Other works followed: Seeds in the wind: Poems in Scots (1933), written specifically for children to encourage the use of the language, Poems in Scots (1935) and Riddles in Scots (1937). One of his most popular works was The Tryst, which has been set to music several times, most recently by James MacMillan (b.1959). Soutar also wrote in English, for example, In the time of Tyrants (1939).
His diaries (1917-53) and journals, together with an archive of his poems, are held in the National Library of Scotland, although little other than his poems have ever been published
He died on October 15th 1943.
#(1)
Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a type of arthritis that mainly affects the spine, where the joints of the spine and the joints between the spine and pelvis become inflamed. This results in pain and stiffness in the neck and back, there is no cure for AS.
Links of interest include
http://www.williamsoutar.com/biblio2.html
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