Papers of and relating to Marion E. Angus

This collection contains some original correspondence between Marion Angus and Helen B. Cruickshank, regarding their work in the period 1934 - 1945, but most of the papers relate to the publication of Selected Poems of Marion Angus in 1950. They reveal the difficulties encountered by Helen B. Cruickshank and Maurice Lindsay in compiling and publishing a selection of her poetry, and clarify the financing of the venture. The collection also contains biographical information relating to Marion Angus and her family (letters, press cuttings and obituaries), which was collected after her death by Nan Shepherd and Helen B. Cruickshank

Marion Angus was born on 27 Mar 1865 in Sunderland, County Durham, England, but spent most of her childhood in Arbroath, where her father, the Rev. Dr Angus was a United Presbyterian Church minister. After his death, she moved to Aberdeen with her mother and sister, and lived here until 1945. She returned to Arbroath in 1945 and died there on 18 August 1946.

Marion Angus did not begin to write seriously until over fifty, and her first collection of poetry, The Lilt and Other Verses was published by Wylie and Sons, Aberdeen, in 1922. This was followed by The Tinker's Road and Other Verses (Glasgow and London: Gowans and Gray, 1924); Sun and Candlelight (Edinburgh: Porpoise Press, 1927); The Turn of Day (Edinburgh: Porpoise Press, 1931); and Lost Country (Glasgow: Gowans and Gray, 1937). All of her work was characterised by her use of Scots dialect. She developed friendships with many contemporary literary figures, including Naomi Mitchison (1897 - 1999), author; W.H. Auden (1902 - 1985), poet; Marion Lochead (1902 - 1985), poet; Helen B. Cruickshank (1886 - 1975), poet; and Nan Shepherd (1893 - 1981), author.

A short biography is contained in the introduction of Selected Poems of Marion Angus, ed. by Helen B. Cruickshank and Maurice Lindsay (Edinburgh: Serif Books, 1950). This small volume of her works was compiled as a tribute after her death in 1946.

Correspondence has been arranged by recipient

Open, subject to signature accepting conditions of use at reader registration sheet

Deposited in the University Library in Dec 1969, by Miss A. [Nan] Shepherd (1893 - 1981), author.

Descriptive list available in the Reading Room, Special Libraries and Archives, University of Aberdeen.

Very brief collection level description available on Aberdeen University Library Catalogue, accessible online http://www.abdn.ac.uk/diss/library/

No copies known

Subject to the condition of the original, copies may be supplied for private research use only on receipt of a signed undertaking to comply with current copyright legislation.

Permission to make any published use of material from the collection must be sought in advance from the Head of Special Libraries and Archives (e-mail: speclib@abdn.ac.uk ) and, where appropriate, from the copyright owner. Where possible, assistance will be given in identifying copyright owners, but responsibility for ensuring copyright clearance rests with the user of the material.

This material has been appraised in line with normal procedures

No accruals expected

Letters from Rachel Annand Taylor and Marion Angus to Nan Shepherd, 1930 - 1959 (GB 231 MS 3036). Letters from Rachel Annand Taylor and Marion Angus to Nan Shepherd, 1930 - 1959 (GB 231 MS 3036). Letters from Marion Angus to Alexander Keith (GB 231 MS 3017/8/1/1)

Letters from Marion Angus to Mairi Campbell Ireland, 1929 - 1931 are deposited in the National Library of Scotland, Manuscripts Division (MS 19238)

A letter from Helen B. Cruickshank to Nan Shepherd, 22 Jan 1969 (GB 231 MS 2737/53), states that she has deposited literary papers in Edinburgh University and Stirling University.

Selected Poems of Marion Angus, ed. by Helen B. Cruickshank and Maurice Lindsay (Edinburgh: Serif Books, 1950)

This material is original