‘Smaoinich / Nan tiginn a-steach do Ghlaschu /… / ’s gun cuirinn gach taigh mòr ud ann am bàrdachd / ’s ann am bogsa gach sràid is solas / ’s gum biodh mo shùilean a’ lasadh neon / ’s gum bithinn cho fuar cho fuar cho blàth cho blàth / ’s na sgòthan uisge-beatha a’ gabhail seachad / Is Cluaidh fhèin a’ dòrtadh tromham.’

Iain Mac a’ Ghobhainn

Think / If I would come into Glasgow / … / and I would make poetry of each one of those big houses / and put in a box each street and light / and that my eyes would light up in neon / and that I would be so cold so cold so warm so warm / and the clouds of whiskey would move by / and the Clyde itself flow through me.

Iain Crichton Smith

Air a h-ainmeachadh ‘Baile Mòr nan Gàidheal’, tha àite sònraichte aig Glaschu ann an saoghal filidheach na Gàidhlig. Mas ann aig cridhe air no aig òir na bàrdachd, tha Glaschu a-riamh air aire nam bàrd a ghlacadh.

Chìthear iomradh oirre leis a’ bhana-bhàrd Mhuileach, Màiri Nic Dhùghaill (1789-1872) à Àird Tunna, mar bhaile nam bùithtean a tha ann an saoghal eile, fad às o thìr a h-àrach ann am Muile. A bharrachd air astar fiosaigeach eadar Glaschu agus a’ Ghàidhealtachd is na h-Eilean, tha astar spioradal aig cridhe cuid de bhàrdachd. Mar sin, tha Maoilios Caimbeul a’ meòrachadh air Glaschu mar àite os-nàdarra dhan do thrèig a mhàthair às dèidh a bàis.

Bha Glaschu a-riamh na dachaigh do dh’fhogarraich Ghàidhealach. Tha fadachd is cianalas Ruaraidh MhicThòmais (1921-2012), ‘a’ coiseachd ’s a’ coiseachd anns an t-saoghal ùr,’ is a’ cheist ga shìor thathaich, ‘BHEIL FADA BHO NACH D’ FHUAIR SIBH BHON TAIGH?’ Is toinnte agus ioma-fillte a tha dàimh nam fògarrach le Glaschu. Aon de na ‘Còignear Cliùiteach’, tha MacThòmais a’ toirt sùil gheur agus smaoineachail air a dhara dachaigh. Tha a shealladh fo bhuaidh an dà chuid, prosbaig Ghàidhealach agus prosbaig eilthireach Gàidhealach. Na bhall den ‘Chòignear Cliùiteach’ cuideachd, tha Iain Mac a’ Ghobhainn (1929-1998) a’ sgrùdadh agus a’ breithneachadh Ghlaschu na rannan. Gun sgeadachadh breugach is mòrchuiseach, tha Glaschu Mhic a’ Ghobhainn dìreach agus ònarach. Tha i garbh agus àrd, ri onghail a’ bhaile. Tha i, ‘Nas bòidhche / air an oidhche / na air an latha, / Glaschu, / siùrsach aosta.’

Named, ‘the Great City of the Gaels’, Glasgow holds a special place in Gaelic poetry. The Gaelic poetess, Mary M’ Dougall (1789-1872) from Ardtun, described Glasgow as ‘the city of shops’, far removed from her world and her home in the Isle of Mull.

Besides the physical distance, a spiritual discrepancy between Glasgow and the Highlands and Islands appears to be a re-occurring theme in Gaelic poetry. For Maoilios Campbell Glasgow was a transcendental place to which his mother disappeared after her death.

Home to many an exiled Gael, Glasgow inspired longing for bygone days and places. Those sentiments can be found, ‘Walking and walking in the new world,’ alongside Derrick Thomson (1921-2012) whilst he is plagued by the question, ‘IS IT LONG SINCE YOU HEARD FROM HOME?’ The exiles’ relationship with Glasgow is multi-faceted and, at times, complicated. One of the ‘Famous Five’, Derick Thomson casts a critical eye on his secondary home through the lens of a Gael and migrant.

Also a member of the ‘Famous Five’, Iain Crichton Smith’s (1929-1998) Glasgow-centric verses are marked by his unapologetic scrutiny of the place of his birth. Lacking unnecessary and pretentious embellishment, Smith’s Glasgow appears genuine and authentic. His Glasgow is rough and garish, not unlike the city itself. Or, to quote Iain Crichton Smith, ‘More beautiful / at night / than during the day, / Glasgow, / aged whore.’