Makars’ Court, an evolving national literary monument, has been described as the Scottish equivalent of Poet’s Corner at Westminster Abbey and is located beside the Writers' Museum in the courtyard of Lady Stairs Close.
Lauded Scottish Gaelic poet and songmaker Màiri Nic a’ Phearsain (Mary MacPherson; 1821-1898), most commonly known as Màiri Mhòr nan Òran, or ‘Big Mary of the Songs’ has been added to Makars’ Court, where the nations most esteemed literary figures have been celebrated since its creation in 1998.
Described as ‘a towering presence in Gaelic culture’ (The National, 2021), Màiri Mhòr has taken her rightful place at Makars’ Court where she has a memorial flagstone inscribed with her name and the lines:
Cuimhnichibh gur sluagh sibh
Is cumaibh suas ur còir
(Remember that you are a people / And stand up for your rights)
(From The Highest Apple/An Ubhal as Àirde (Francis Boutle Press, 2019), p. 522).
Despite not discovering her latent literary talents until after her 50th birthday, Màiri Mhòr is lauded as one of the most important songmakers in Scottish history. Her work unflinchingly chronicled the Highland Clearances and land struggles, one of the most profound eras of socio-economic and political unrest in the nation’s history.
George Bruce, OBE, MA (1909-2002) also has a memorial flagstone inscribed with his name and the line:
The sea trembles - voiceless
It is the rare moment
when a word is sought.
Hailing from Fraserburgh in the north-east of Scotland, Bruce’s poetry references his family’s seafaring heritage in the herring trade and his own upbringing on the North Sea coast.
In addition to his extensive work as a poet, Bruce worked as a BBC producer for over 20 years and on his retirement was appointed as the first Fellow in Creative Writing at the University of Glasgow, alongside similar posts in the USA, and a Scottish Australian Writing Fellowship. In 2000, he received an honorary Doctorate from his alma mater, the University of Aberdeen, to add to another from Wooster College Ohio.
When visiting Makar's Court look out for quotes ranging from the 14th century John Barbour to Sir Walter Scott, Rabbie Burns, Robert Louis Stevenson and Dame Muriel Spark.