The name of Scots poet George Bruce, OBE, MA (1909-2002) is the latest addition to Makars’ Court, where Scotland’s most esteemed writers have been celebrated since its establishment in 1998.
Located in the Old Town just off the Royal Mile, Makar’s Court is the Scottish equivalent of Poet’s Corner at Westminster Abbey.
Bruce joins the likes of Sir Walter Scott, Rabbie Burns, and Robert Louis Stevenson at Makars’ Court where a memorial flagstone was unveiled by his four grandchildren, Karen Inglis, Jenni Inglis, Catherine Smith and Andrew Bruce.
The stone is inscribed with his name and the line:
The sea trembles – voiceless
It is the rare moment
when a word is sought.
(from Pursuit. Poems 1986-1998. Haiku Envoi).
Bruce was from Fraserburgh and his poetry references his family’s seafaring heritage in the herring trade and his own upbringing on the wild North Sea coast. In addition to his work as a poet, Bruce worked as a BBC producer for more than 20 years.
On his retirement from the BBC he 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.
Cllr Lezley Marion Cameron, Depute Lord Provost, said:”I am delighted that the words and works of George Bruce are being celebrated and commemorated in the Makar’s flagstone dedicated to him and unveiled today. Edinburgh continues to be rightly proud of our UNESCO City of Literature status and of our unique and evolving literary monument that is Makars’ Court.”
Councillor Val Walker, Culture and Communities Convener for the City of Edinburgh Council, said: “George Bruce’s addition to Makars’ Court reflects his indelible mark on Scottish poetry and he can now take up his rightful place alongside the finest literary figures in our nation’s rich writing tradition. Makars’ Court is a central fixture on the Old Town tourist trail and provides an opportunity for visitors and residents alike to explore the very best of Scotland’s writers. I would like to thank the sponsor of this flagstone David Bruce; this will be a moving and fitting tribute from a son to a father.”
The sponsor for the inscription, the poet’s son, David Bruce, said: “Our family is delighted that my father is to receive such a recognition and be in the company of the most distinguished Makars of this and previous ages. He would be proud to be numbered with them. It was Professor Alan Spence who said that George Bruce should definitely be represented in Makars’ Court, and we are very grateful to him, and to the City of Edinburgh Council, for bringing this project to fruition.”
Others present at the unveiling included Professor Ian Campbell who is Emeritus Professor of Scottish & Victorian Literature at the University of Edinburgh and Professor Alan Spence a former Makar both of whom recited some of Bruce’s poetry.
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
