Wilson's Ornithology & Burds in Scots

by MacDonald, Hamish; Wilson, Alexander; Walton, Paul

• ISBN13: 9781910895399
• ISBN10: 1910895393
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2021-09-01
• Publisher: Scotland Street Press

Summary

‘The crossbill is a bonny bird

An she sings wi a guid Scots tongue

Jip-jip-jip

A’ll gie ye gip

Gin ye meddle wi me nor ma young’

This book highlights the works of a notable Scottish writer and illustrator, Alexander Wilson. Wilson explored the world of birds through the rich and vibrant medium of the Scots language. Because of his vast travels across North America in the eighteenth century, Wilson pioneered the science of ornithological writing and illustration. He was also a radically-minded weaver and minor poet. Because of this, he was something of a rebel in his own country. Before he emigrated to the United States, Wilson wrote and published a number of poems in Scots. This new book celebrates the artwork of Alexander Wilson by reproducing his illustrations alongside new poems in Scots by Hamish MacDonald. The new poems look at the habits, habitats, and characteristics of birds.

Author Biography

Hamish Macdonald was the first skriver at the Scottish National Library in Edinburgh and the poems reflect his own lifelong love of birds. Scots is the medium throughout. As Alexander Wilson was not only a self-taught ornithologist but also at one time a minor Scots poet and an orator who delivered his speeches in Scots verse, this makes Scots an apposite medium with which to explore these beautiful drawings.

Alexander Wilson, a Radical Paisley weaver turned packman, traveled thousands of miles by foot across the American continent illustrating and writing about its birdlife. Wilson is the founding father of American Ornithology, while his illustrations and writing comprise an outstanding body of work. American Ornithology was published in nine volumes between 1808 and 1814.

Paul Walton is head of habitats and species for Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Scotland.