Hamewith: The complete poems of Charles Murray

by Charles Murray, Nan Shepherd (Introduction)

This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.

Genres: Poetry

161 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1900

About the author

Charles Murray was a poet who wrote in Scots.

He was born and raised in Alford in north east Scotland, but wrote much of his poetry while living in South Africa where he spent most of his working life as a civil engineer. His first volume, A Handful of Heather (1893), was privately printed and he withdrew it shortly after publication to rework many of the poems within it. His second volume, Hamewith (1900), was much more successful. It was republished five times before he died and it is this volume for which he is best known. The title of the volume, which means Homewards in English, reflects his expatriate situation.

He served in the Armed Forces during the Second Boer War and the First World War and in 1917 produced the volume, The Sough o' War. He published his last volume, In the Country Places, in 1920.

He returned to Scotland when he retired in 1924 and settled in Banchory, where he died in 1941. After his death a final volume of poetry, The Last Poems, was published by the Charles Murray Memorial Trust in 1969.

Reviews

[Gavin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m away from home, and so must have a falsely distinctive version of it. (“Thir’s a pig in ilka bed.”) Murray’s poems about Aberdeenshire were written from South Africa, and they’re funny and surprisingly brutal. Some jingoism too, unfortunately, though check out ‘Dockens Afore His Peers’ for subversion. He avoids the kailyard by focussing on tatties instead (the Classics, drunks and work-sore backs, over the lad o’ pairts and the light on the rapeseed).