Bilingualism in Scottish Poetry

This essay traces the development of the two principal forms of literary bilingualism currently practiced by Scottish poets and notes that parallel production in English is a more recent phenomenon among Gaelic poets than those writing in Scots. The nature of poetic bilingualism is explored, with particular attention paid to the role of poetic form in the different parts of a poet’s output. The essay argues that bilingualism in Scottish poetry is less widespread than is often supposed and suggest that the current practice of self-translation by Gaelic poets might have an inhibiting effect on the development of certain kinds of verse. It then looks in detail at the work of two truly bilingual Scottish poets – Iain Crichton Smith and W. N. Herbert – and in particular at their ‘double’ collections: Na h-Eilthirich / The Exiles (1983–4) and Omnesia (2013). These works are presented as striking examples of literary bilingualism in which the relationship between a poet’s languages is mutually beneficial. The author revises his previous criticism of Crichton Smith’s publishing strategies in favour of a more sympathetic view, taking into account the history of his poetic output in both Gaelic and English, and considers the alternatives it might offer to Gaelic poets in the twenty-first century.