A Highland Regiment by Ewart Alan Mackintosh
Ewart Alan Mackintosh’s war poems collection are imbued with a strong sense of duty to his fellow soldiers and a profound sympathy for the pain and suffering of all men on the front line. His poetry is often compared to the work of Rupert Brooke and lines from his poem A Creed appear on the Scottish American war memorial in Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh.

 

Marlborough and Other Poems by Charles Hamilton Sorley
Charles Hamilton Sorley’s poetry uses an unsentimental style in contrast to many of his contemporaries. Robert Graves described Sorley as ‘one of the three poets of importance killed during the war’ while Laureate John Masefield regarded Sorley’s death as the greatest loss of all the poets who perished. Sorley’s last poem was recovered from his possessions after his death.

 

Deveron Days by Mary Symon

Mary Symon penned several of the best-known poems capturing the terrible impact of the First World War on the people of Scotland. The Soldiers’ Cairn and The Glen’s Muster Roll, in particular, brought her popular acclaim. Deveron Days collects Symon’s poetry in one volume, and includes her skilful adaptations of three poems by Béranger as well as her well-known and very moving war poetry.

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A Sough O’War by Charles Murray
Charles Murray was 49 when the First World War broke out and already a well-regarded poet. A Sough O’War consists of the poetry he wrote during WWI. The poems he wrote early in the conflict were patriotic, and he showed a more profound insight into the impact of war on ordinary people in his later work. Murray wrote predominantly in Doric and did lots to validate the use of the dialect.