Description
Scarce 1920 Scottish local poetry volume, Poems and Songs by David Scott, printed in Dalkeith by P. & D. Lyle, Printers and Stationers, Advertiser Office. This is a particularly appealing working-class literary item: the author’s note states that the poems and songs were written during his leisure hours after his daily toil in the mine.
The book is dated Easthouses, Dalkeith, April 1920, giving it a strong Midlothian / Scottish coal-mining district connection. The collection runs to 102 pages and includes Scots dialect poems and songs, romantic verse, local pieces, and titles such as “Lassie, Say Ye Lo’e Me,” “My Native Shore,” “When My Lad Comes Hame,” “Epistle to a Brother Poet,” “To Edison,” and “Epistle to the Laird of Newtongrange.”
Key points of interest:
*
Scarce 1920 Scottish miner-poet volume by David Scott
*
Local Dalkeith imprint by P. & D. Lyle, Advertiser Office
*
Author’s note directly references writing after daily work in the mine
*
Strong Midlothian / Easthouses / Dalkeith / Newtongrange association
*
Includes Scots dialect poems and song-style verse
*
102-page collection, not a short pamphlet
*
Includes a loose period “Local Wedding” newspaper clipping mentioning Newtongrange/Edinburgh-area names
Original cloth-spine binding with paper-covered boards. Covers show age toning, soil, spotting, edge wear, and an early owner name written on the front cover, likely “Jas. H. White.” Interior endpapers show foxing and age spotting, while the printed text remains readable and attractive. The loose newspaper clipping is not attached to the book.
A very interesting and hard-to-find Scottish working-class poetry item with appeal to collectors of Scottish literature, Scots dialect verse, Midlothian history, Dalkeith local printing, coal mining history, and laboring-class poetry. Please view all the photos.
