Literary Scotland

46The Clyde Valley and GlasgowPAISLEY AND GREENOCK10West of Glasgow and south of the Clyde,among many writers resident in Paisley,which has its own character and identity,Robert Tannahill, a younger contemporaryof Burns, wrote popular vernacular songs. Hehas a statue in the grounds of Paisley Abbey,and his cottage and grave are conserved. Thedirect descendant of his younger brother wasthe poet Andrew Tannahill, a friend andcontemporary of Hugh MacDiarmid, whoinherited the same tradition of Burns, andwas a visionary of social justice. The samelegacy informs many of the poets collectedin the groundbreaking anthology RadicalRenfrew (1990) edited by Tom Leonard,and the work of younger writers from thearea such as Graham Fulton. Furtherwest, in Greenock, the house where thepoet W.S. Graham was born at 1 HopeStreet has a plaque on the wall, and abovethe industrial town is Loch Thom, whichGraham describes in his unforgettable poemof that name. In his shrewdly entertainingnovels of small town society John Galt drewon his own experiences of life in Irvine andGreenock. Greenock’s riverside esplanadedisplays a Galt memorial fountain and heis buried in a local graveyard. Among hisTales of the West (1820-1822) are Annals ofthe Parish (1821), The Provost (1822), TheEntail (1822) and the The Steamboat (1821).Edwin Muir, George Blake, Alan Sharpand the dramatists Bill Bryden and PeterMcDougall have all written powerfullyabout aspects of the growth and decline ofGreenock as an industrial community.Above Paisley Town Hall. 31