The Scottish Invention of English Literature. Ed. by ROBERT CRAWFORD. Cambridge, New York, and Melbourne: Cambridge University Press. 1998. xii + 259 pp. $59.95. It is not the thesis of The Scottish Invention of English Literature that Scots wrote the foundational or...

The appeal of Scottish literature since 1707 can hardly be doubted. Major literary figures such as Burns, Scott, Stevenson, and more recently McDiarmid and Morgan are widely recognized for their contributions to English-language culture. This recognition makes the tone of Marshall Walker's history...

The land that gave the world Robert Burns also has the dubious honor of producing the "world's worst poet." Now fans of the hapless William McGonagall are campaigning to put him in the pantheon of Scottish literary greats.The late 19th century poet's work is so...

In the following excerpt, Millar surveys the development of Scottish poetry during the eighteenth century, examining the role of the classical English-language tradition and the revival of local vernacular verse, which culminated with the poetry of Robert Burns.

A prominent critic, historian, and editor, Daiches has written a number of important studies of Scottish literature and culture, including The Paradox of Scottish Culture: The Eighteenth Century Experience (1964) and Robert Burns and His World (1971). In the following essay, Daiches explores the works of Ramsay, Fergusson, and Burns in relation to the problem of "[how to use the vernacular as a language in serious literature."]

In the following essay, Oliver discusses eighteenth-century Scottish poetry written in English, faulting its didacticism and conventionality, and praising its original treatment of supernatural themes.

Certain poems by noted Scottish poets had an influence on what we thought of Scotland and made comparisons between the Scottish culture and our own culture in the United States. These poems provide us with a clear, brutally honest, and rather bewildering, concept about Scotland and Scottish culture today.