In the Cairngorms

by Nan Shepherd, Robert Macfarlane

First published in 1934, In The Cairngorms is Nan Shepherd’s only book of poems. Although she wrote three acclaimed novels, and a remarkable prose meditation on the Cairngorms entitled The Living Mountain, Shepherd considered her poetry to have been her finest work.

It took her twenty-five years to write these forty-six poems. Each is possessed of a fierce intensity; together, they offer glimpses into what she once called “the burning heart of life”. Shepherd’s lifelong acquaintance with the Scottish mountains was a spiritual as well as a geographical in the Cairngorms she discovered both elemental beauty and profound metaphysical mystery. Her huge gifts as a poet were to convey these discoveries in language that remains both strange and thrilling to the modern reader.

Genres: Poetry, Nature, Scotland, Nonfiction, British Literature

80 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1934

About the author

Nan (Anna) Shepherd was a Scottish novelist and poet. She was an early Scottish Modernist writer, who wrote three standalone novels set in small, fictional, communities in North Scotland. The Scottish landscape and weather played a major role in her novels and were the focus of her poetry. Shepherd also wrote one non-fiction book on hill walking, based on her experiences walking in the Cairngorms. An enthusiastic gardener and hill-walker, she made many visits to the Cairngorms with students and friends. She also travelled further afield - to Norway, France, Italy, Greece and South Africa. Shepherd was a lecturer of English at the Aberdeen College of Education for most of her working life.

Shepherd was a friend of the writers Agnes Mure Mackenzie and Neil M. Gunn and a mentor to Jessie Kesson.

Reviews

[Lexi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully done. Can’t capture everything in the first read through, so I will be happily returning in the future.

[Katya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some startlingly clear and immersive poems in a lovely collection – my first real venture into Nan Shepherd's writing, and I wasn't disappointed. I always love writing that puts me into an environment so thoroughly, making me see the world anew, especially the natural world. Nan Shepherd captures the awesome beauty and sometimes terrible coldness of the Cairngorms, and the collected sonnets really delve into discovering love, sensuality, and then the painful loss and breaking of that love, of two people drifting apart.

An extraordinary young woman who I started to admire very fast. I love the image of her picking up her long skirts and marching upwards into the wilderness, knowing her smallness in the mountains and still loving life: "I hope [the afterlife] is true for those who have had a lean life. [...] For myself – this has been so good, so fulfilling."

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

This woman and her work is just not widely known enough.

Nan shepherd captures what it is like to be in some of the most isolated places in scotland. In both her poetry, In the Cairngorms, and her prose novel, The living Mountain, she speaks of how we can be enraptured by Scotland's desolate beauty. But she does not write about looking at the whole picture from a summit. She goes deep into the alluring landscapes drawing ways to become connected with it. Our senses are heightened when we are alone, everything around is alive and tickling. The species and fauna around the rocks and burns all become part of the spirit hence the name "The living mountain".

The cairngorms are not as isolated as they might have been when Nan Shepherd was out exploring them, but her writing speaks out for anyone who loves to explore the outdoors. Even when we are lucky enough to find a place miles from human contact she reminds us how we are surrounded by such graceful company.

O burnie with the glass-white shiver,
Singing over stone,
So quick, so clear, a hundred year
Singing one song alone,
From crystal sources fed forever,
From cold mountain springs,
To o'erpersuade the haunted ear
It new-creates the tune it sings.

[Nicola Whitbread · Rating 4 out of 5]

In The Cairngorms is Nan Shepherds collection of poetry offering glimpses of her spiritual connection to the mountains, written in the 1940s (but not published until 1977).

I’m not a fan of poetry in general so lots of these were too abstract for me and went over my head, but there were some which capture the ‘strange magic’ of the landscapes uncanny atmosphere, where the hills are both ‘hostile and habitual, unsettling and enfolding.’

It’s a very short book, something to escape to for a couple of hours with a cup of tea and a dreamy disposition.

[Myra Flowers · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely collection of poems. This physical book is also very nice. The cover is royal blue with a white drawing and white letters with a red title the poems sit on nice paper and are situated artistically on each the page. June Allan"s drawings fit perfectly with the theme of the Cairngorms. I first became familiar with Nan Shepherd through Robert MacFarlane's, Landmarks and Patrick Baker's, The Cairngorms A Secret History. Those mountains are a fascinating place that I can only go to in a book. Ms Shepherd seemed to be an amazing person.

[Ruth Brumby · Rating 4 out of 5]

For me the rhymes, rhythm and 'poeticisms' of these pieces get in the way of full involvement. They do indeed sound a bit like lullabies or cantrips, as Rob Macfarlane says. Even he in his introduction admits that they are not all successful, with, 'vestiges of high Romanticism and Victorian symbolism. However they also have glimpses of the philosophy and sion that so excites me in 'Into the Mountain'.

The disturbing sonnets are better poems.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not a very good reader of poetry (tendency to scan, and then when I try to concentrate I end up jumping frenetically around the page at random instead), so am not the best judge of Shepherd's only verse work. 'The Living Mountain' remains one of my favorite books of all time, however, so I enjoyed hearing her voice again if nothing else, and seeing allusions to the imagery that she would later utilize in that work.

[LJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strange gifts of pleasure has the mind,
Strange darknesses the soul.
This collection of poems has made me want to read more poetry.
I'm sad to find that Nan Shepherd did not write another collection because these were beautiful.
They are rich in nature, emotion and the senses.
I really enjoyed these.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was drawn to this collection of poems through Robert MacFarlane's recommendation in his writing. My three star rating is perhaps misleading. Some of her poems simply didn't catch my attention at all, but others, especially in the closing section, really transported me to the Highland scenes that inspired them.

[Kendalyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will read every word this woman has written.

"Out of these mountains,
Out of the defiant torment of Plutonic rock,
Out of fire, terror, blackness and upheaval,
Leap the clear burns,
Living water,
Like some pure essence of being,
Invisible in itself,
Seen only by its movement."
- The Hill Burns -

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

She writes my own mind to me to a terrifyingly revealing degree. Hers is the poetry of immensity, pure essential being, clear colour, the life of light and water, form and insubstantiality, ultimate unknowability and the face of the fear of love. And the gradual closing nearer.

[Birch · Rating 4 out of 5]

:)

[Annette · Rating 3 out of 5]

A couple good poems (I liked The Fawn), but I really struggled to stay engaged with this collection. Maybe I’m not familiar enough with Scotland to really feel and picture it?

[ArrowBreaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bought and read this while in the Scottish Highlands.

[Ainsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully immersive poetry, definitely one to return to again and again.

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I fucking love Nan Shepherd with all my heart.

[Reg Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic images and concepts jump out of the poems, even when they don't always work on their own. Reinforces the approach used by Shepard in The Living Mountain of looking at the mountains as a majestic whole, where rocks, burns, animals are all as important as the peaks. The other poems included in the volume add further background and insights into Shepherd as a person.

[Jonathan Koven · Rating 4 out of 5]

An evocative, mystical portrait of isolation among the Scottish mountains. Each of these lyrical poems are saturated in a spiritual wonder and sense of sublime terror at the immensity of nature. Some poems are written in the author's native Doric dialect, which were fun to read. A handful of other poems, love sonnets, and more, in the later sections.

[Fiona Harrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting. Evocative of the Cairngorms and natural world.

[Zainab · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came across this beautiful book by chance right after coming back from the Cairngorms. I was pleased to find it was relatable, reflective and atmospheric. It's not perfect poetry, but it certainly spoke to my soul. Nan Shepherd sounds like a fascinating person and I look forward to reading more of her work.