Tag Archives: Scottish poetry

At the Loch of the Green Corrie by Andrew Greig

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At the Loch of the Green Corrie by Andrew Greig was first published in 2010.

Andrew Greig had formed a friendship with the poet Norman MacCaig while Greig himself was an aspiring poet and over the years MacCaig became something of a father figure to him. So when on his last visit the ill MacCaig said to him ‘I should like you to fish for me at the Loch of the Green Corrie. Only it’s not called that. But if you go to Lochinver and ask for a man called Norman MacAskill, if he likes you he may tell you where it is. If you catch trout I shall be delighted. And if you fail, then looking down from a place in which I do not believe, I’ll be most amused.’

I really enjoyed this one which is a mixture of the author’s thoughts on his past life and failed marriage, poetry, geography, geology, fishing and friendship. Andrew Greig first got in touch with the Scottish poet Norman MacCaig when MacCaig had a poem printed in The Scotsman, so began a long friendship with MacCaig introducing Greig to the other well-known Scottish poets of the times, a lot of whisky was consummed.

Some of the blurb on the back says:
‘If you have a desire to luxuriate in the most beautiful use of the English language borne along by the love of one gifted poet for a recognized master of melancholy, then this is the book for you. It most certainly is the book for me’ Billy Connolly.

Ravenscraig Castle

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I went to school with a girl called Rosabelle a very long time ago in the west of Scotland and I had never heard of anyone else with that name until quite recently when I came across the poem Rosabelle which was written by Sir Walter Scott.

When I read it I realised that he had written it about a local lass, the daughter of the Saint Clair (Sinclair) family who owned Ravenscraig Castle, the remains of which are situated about a mile from the esplanade in Kirkcaldy. For some reason Scott changed the name to Ravensheuch.

Ravenscraig Castle from path.

Ravenscraig Castle from beach.

It has seen better days. Unfortunately the locals have used the building as a handy place to gather stone from for whatever they wanted to build in the past. But if you find yourself in that part of Fife it is worthwhile stopping to take a look at what is left. You can park your car at Ravenscraig Park, the castle is on the edge of it.