Makars'_Court

Makars' Court

Makars' Court is a courtyard in central Edinburgh, Scotland. It forms part of Lady Stair's Close, which connects the Lawnmarket with The Mound to the north, and is next to the Writers' Museum. Described as an "evolving national literary monument",[1] the courtyard incorporates quotations from Scottish literature inscribed onto paving slabs. The quotations represent works in the languages used by Scots past and present: Gaelic, Scots, English, and Latin.

Makars' Court

Selection

The Scots language term makar denotes an author or writer,[2] though stressing their role as a "skilled and versatile worker in the craft of writing".[3] Since 2002 the city of Edinburgh has appointed its own official Makar.[3]

In 1997, twelve Scottish writers were selected by the Saltire Society, and quotations from their works were inscribed on stone slabs installed in the area adjacent to the museum. The first was unveiled by Ronald Harwood, then president of International PEN, and the rest by poet Iain Crichton Smith. Further inscriptions continue to be added to the Court.[4]

List of makars commemorated

More information Makar, Image ...

References

  1. "Makar's Court". Edinburgh Museums and Galleries. Archived from the original on 9 April 2014. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  2. "Makar, Makkar". Dictionary of the Scots Language. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
  3. "Edinburgh's Makars". Edinburgh Unesco City of Literature. Archived from the original on 28 December 2008. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  4. "Makars' Court: A literary celebration in stone" (PDF). Edinburgh Museums and Galleries. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 April 2014. Retrieved 17 December 2011.
  5. "Gavin Douglas to be commemorated at Makars Court hall of fame". City of Edinburgh Council. 20 August 2013.
  6. "New Memorials in Makars' Court". www.royalcelticsociety.scot. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  7. Stephen, Phyllis (21 April 2017). "New memorials to be unveiled in Makars' Court". The Edinburgh Reporter. Retrieved 28 March 2023.

55.94968°N 3.19345°W / 55.94968; -3.19345


Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Makars'_Court, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.