The Hammer and the Fire

93 page hardback

Maclean Dubois 2011.

Distributed by Birlinn Ltd.

ISBN 9-780956-527820

 

'The collection begins with a powerful section on John Knox – a section that provides us with astonishing insights into the conditions of the Scottish reformation and its extraordinary leader. Then there are poems that dwell on that territory that this poet has made so much his own: the beguiling landscape of the West of Scotland and its islands. Not since the poetry of Sorley Maclean and a very small number of his contemporaries in the literary renaissance of the mid-twentieth century has any poet captured so powerfully the world of that part of Scotland.

 

This superb collection of poetry is a major contribution to Scottish literature of the early twenty-first century. It is the work of a generous spirited man who is much beloved of numerous past pupils and so many others. It is the work of a man who, like any truly good poet, has something powerful and moving to share with us.'

 

Alexander McCall Smith