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Royal Scottish Academy presents, Hugh MacDiarmid & Hamish Henderson Folk-Song Flyting
| In 2022 it is100 years since the name Hugh MacDiarmid first appeared in print. We are pleased to mark the anniversary of one of our Honorary Academicians with a performance of The Folk-Song Flyting. Join us for what promises to be a highly entertaining evening! Alan Riach and Corey Gibson, both of Glasgow University, present an exhilarating account of the Flyting between two of Scotland’s greatest modern poets, Hugh MacDiarmid and Hamish Henderson, originally conducted in the letters pages of The Scotsman in the 1960s. A Flyting is an old Scottish literary tradition of coruscating verbal attack, in which two poets present opposing arguments and tear into each other in delightful abandon with an abundance of sheer linguistic brio. The exchanges focussed on matters of Scottish arts and identity, the relative values of ‘High Art’ and folk song, genuine popularity and commercial populism. This event is a dramatic re-enactment of the Flyting conducted in the original spirit of the correspondence, in the timeless Scottish style of ‘enjoying the row fine’. The performance will play out against a backdrop of images from the exhibition, Landmarks: Hugh MacDiarmid: The Brownsbank Years by RSA Annual Exhibition exhibitors, Alexander Moffat RSA and Ruth Nicol. Following the performance there will be the opportunity to chat to the performers and artists over a complimentary dram. The publication Landmarks: Hugh MacDiarmid: The Brownsbank Years will be for sale in aid of the MacDiarmid Brownsbank Trust. |
