The writing on the wall
- jessjones655
- Jun 24
- 1 min read
Quotations from the poetry of three of Scotland's previous Makars have been set in stone and incorporated into our Parliament's Canongate Wall.
A beautifully inclusive couple of lines from Jackie Kay (pictured) have been carved into Ailsa Craig granite:
Where do you come from?
'Here,' I said, 'Here. These parts.'
To this reader, Liz Lochhead's lines combine hope and urgency around environmentalism and much more:
this
our one small country…
our one, wondrous, spinning, dear green place.
What shall we build of it, together
in this our one small time and space?
And Kathleen Jamie, in words cut into grey granite from Dalbeattie, urges us to
Be brave:
by the weird-song in the dark you’ll find your way.
The quotes were selected by a public poll. The importance of literature in developing and promoting our popular consciousness has been crucial - it is good to see that, in challenging times, there is still the scope and commitment to celebrate and promote the importance of poetry in what are still the early days of what we must make a better nation.
Published 24 June 2025. See our previous piece on this initiative by clicking here.
