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Portrait of Orkney
Portrait of O rkney is a personal account of a people, their history and their way of life, and of a landscape that has shaped them, and been shaped by them.
- GenresScotlandNonfiction
100 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1981
11 people are currently reading
30 people want to read
About the author
George Mackay Brown
183 books101 followersGeorge Mackay Brown, the poet, novelist and dramatist, spent his life living in and documenting the Orkney Isles.
A bout of severe measles at the age of 12 became the basis for recurring health problems throughout his life. Uncertain as to his future, he remained in education until 1940, a year which brought with it a growing reality of the war, and the unexpected death of his father. The following year he was diagnosed with (then incurable) Pulmonary Tuberculosis and spent six months in hospital in Kirkwall, Orkney's main town.
Around this time, he began writing poetry, and also prose for the Orkney Herald for which he became Stromness Correspondent, reporting events such as the switching on of the electricity grid in 1947. In 1950 he met the poet Edwin Muir, a fellow Orcadian, who recognised Mackay Brown's talent for writing, and would become his literary tutor and mentor at Newbattle Abbey College, in Midlothian, which he attended in 1951-2. Recurring TB forced Mackay Brown to spend the following year in hospital, but his experience at Newbattle spurred him to apply to Edinburgh University, to read English Literature, returning to do post-graduate work on Gerard Manley Hopkins.
In later life Mackay Brown rarely left Orkney. He turned to writing full-time, publishing his first collection of poetry, The Storm, in 1954. His writing explored life on Orkney, and the history and traditions which make up Orkney's distinct cultural identity. Many of his works are concerned with protecting Orkney's cultural heritage from the relentless march of progress and the loss of myth and archaic ritual in the modern world. Reflecting this, his best known work is Greenvoe (1972), in which the permanence of island life is threatened by 'Black Star', a mysterious nuclear development.
Mackay Brown's literary reputation grew steadily. He received an OBE in 1974 and was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1977, in addition to gaining several honorary degrees. His final novel, Beside the Ocean of Time (1994) was Booker Prize shortlisted and judged Scottish Book of the Year by the Saltire Society. Mackay Brown died in his home town of Stromness on 13th April 1996.
He produced several poetry collections, five novels, eight collections of short stories and two poem-plays, as well as non-fiction portraits of Orkney, an autobiography, For the Islands I Sing (1997), and published journalism.
Read more at:
http://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org....
A bout of severe measles at the age of 12 became the basis for recurring health problems throughout his life. Uncertain as to his future, he remained in education until 1940, a year which brought with it a growing reality of the war, and the unexpected death of his father. The following year he was diagnosed with (then incurable) Pulmonary Tuberculosis and spent six months in hospital in Kirkwall, Orkney's main town.
Around this time, he began writing poetry, and also prose for the Orkney Herald for which he became Stromness Correspondent, reporting events such as the switching on of the electricity grid in 1947. In 1950 he met the poet Edwin Muir, a fellow Orcadian, who recognised Mackay Brown's talent for writing, and would become his literary tutor and mentor at Newbattle Abbey College, in Midlothian, which he attended in 1951-2. Recurring TB forced Mackay Brown to spend the following year in hospital, but his experience at Newbattle spurred him to apply to Edinburgh University, to read English Literature, returning to do post-graduate work on Gerard Manley Hopkins.
In later life Mackay Brown rarely left Orkney. He turned to writing full-time, publishing his first collection of poetry, The Storm, in 1954. His writing explored life on Orkney, and the history and traditions which make up Orkney's distinct cultural identity. Many of his works are concerned with protecting Orkney's cultural heritage from the relentless march of progress and the loss of myth and archaic ritual in the modern world. Reflecting this, his best known work is Greenvoe (1972), in which the permanence of island life is threatened by 'Black Star', a mysterious nuclear development.
Mackay Brown's literary reputation grew steadily. He received an OBE in 1974 and was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1977, in addition to gaining several honorary degrees. His final novel, Beside the Ocean of Time (1994) was Booker Prize shortlisted and judged Scottish Book of the Year by the Saltire Society. Mackay Brown died in his home town of Stromness on 13th April 1996.
He produced several poetry collections, five novels, eight collections of short stories and two poem-plays, as well as non-fiction portraits of Orkney, an autobiography, For the Islands I Sing (1997), and published journalism.
Read more at:
http://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org....
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 9, 2021
George Mackay Brown was an Orcadian writer and poet active during most of the twentieth century. This “portrait” includes both poetic prose and samples of his own poetry. That can be confusing at first because he quotes other poets as well as the Orkneyinga Saga and flows from one to the next throughout. I love his beautiful descriptions of nature, history, weather, the seasons and the people. History in the Portrait of Orkney begins with speculation on pre-Norse era ruins and ends with the impact of oil drilling, farm and fishing modernization. Religion, culture and tourism get coverage as well. Beautiful and highly recommend.
March 26, 2018
Written when the Orkney poet George Mackay Brown was approaching the prime of his career, but while he was also in the pits of a decade-long depression and bronchial illness that saw him administered the final sacraments in the year it was published, this book is a strange creature. What could have been a traveler's incidental becomes more of a wistful opportunity for Brown to engage with his beloved home islands from an outsider's perspective and discuss the passionate world that was transforming before him, from oil explorations to investment in the arts to the contrasting fortunes of architectural types and historical reconstruction.
Portrait of Orkney falls into neither the camps of historical recovery nor traveler's aid. Instead, it resembles most what Brown may have in fact wanted: to be an organized, thoughtful, and deeply informed voice for a reader interested in the Orkney islands but who might need a helping hand and a guiding voice. The book is broken into different thematic chapters on history, architecture, religion, the arts, and so on. Its main virtue is its author's passion, combined with the character-laden photography.
What stands out the most to me here, however, is the poetry that Brown uses to illustrate his reflections on these themes. Choice lines from historical works in Orkney's past are sampled with an expert's eye and a sympathetic mind, and they provide the islands with an ample and rich identity steeped in multicultural history and arts. A rare approach to travel-oriented literature!
I found this at my local library and that was just as well, because locating a copy can be difficult. I would highly recommend it or Brown's other work to anyone interested in the Orkneys, however. In Brown the islands gained (and consequently lost) perhaps their most impassioned modern inhabitant.
Portrait of Orkney falls into neither the camps of historical recovery nor traveler's aid. Instead, it resembles most what Brown may have in fact wanted: to be an organized, thoughtful, and deeply informed voice for a reader interested in the Orkney islands but who might need a helping hand and a guiding voice. The book is broken into different thematic chapters on history, architecture, religion, the arts, and so on. Its main virtue is its author's passion, combined with the character-laden photography.
What stands out the most to me here, however, is the poetry that Brown uses to illustrate his reflections on these themes. Choice lines from historical works in Orkney's past are sampled with an expert's eye and a sympathetic mind, and they provide the islands with an ample and rich identity steeped in multicultural history and arts. A rare approach to travel-oriented literature!
I found this at my local library and that was just as well, because locating a copy can be difficult. I would highly recommend it or Brown's other work to anyone interested in the Orkneys, however. In Brown the islands gained (and consequently lost) perhaps their most impassioned modern inhabitant.
June 2, 2015
A seminal book of beautiful writing and fine photographs.
February 8, 2018
Lovely description of the Orkneys. It is a view that telescopes in and out from the long view of history from faraway neolithic times to the close view of the author's own more contemporary life in the Orkneys. There is some sadness for loss of some of the old ways, some fear for the future, and also hope engendered by the character of the people of the Orkneys. There are bits of poetry quoted, but even Mr. Brown's prose is poetic in its gentle rhythms and evoked emotions.
July 16, 2016
A near perfect gentle guide. George Mackay Brown is the idealcompanion. It's an afternoon stroll or a morning walk rather than a detailed archaeological exploration. A pleasure. (Bonus fact: Robert Frost's grandmother was an Orcadian.)
August 21, 2016
A short, readable and enjoyable overview of the history and delights of Orkney and it's people. My first taste of this revered Orcadian author, and I shall definitely be reading more of this prolific writer's work!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews