Charles Murray

The Scots language owes much to Aberdeenshire poet Charles Murray. His popular poetry, written in the early 20th century, was lively, realistic and rich. It became instrumental in raising the profile of Scots as an important poetic language.

In 1888, Charles left Scotland for South Africa, remaining there for the next 35 years. During this time, he maintained a close emotional connection with his native Aberdeenshire, writing poetry in Scots, the language of his childhood. Charles’s collection of poems Hamewith was first published in 1900 and gained phenomenal popularity. Written in the broad Scots of farming folk, the works evoked memories of the rural life in North-East Scotland which Charles had left behind.

His powerful poetry and remarkable ability to see his native land clearly from a distance inspired other writers, such as Lewis Grassic Gibbon, to explore contemporary spoken Scots in their own work.