Mungo's Tongues: Glasgow Poems, 1630-1990 by Hamish Whyte
Edwin Morgan maintains that poetry should "acknowledge its environment". Over the last 360 years Glasgow poets have done just that, responding to the life around them, to the changing face and condition of the city, even campaigning for change themselves: from the elegant 18th-century merchant town, through the violent effects of the Industrial Revolution, to the social optimism (and despair) of the present era. In this book weavers, shoemakers, booksellers, housewives, pedlars, paupers, teachers and not forgetting anon, all give voice to the lives and times of a great city - a testimony to its variety and energy. This revised and expanded edition of the 1983 collection, "Noise and Smoky Breath, Mungo's Tongues" not only includes the highlights of that book, but gathers together forgotten material from the past, bringing the poetic survey of Glasgow up to date. Hamish Whyte is the author of "Apple and an Orange Day", "Rooms", "Siva in Lamlash". He is the editor of "Noise and Smoky Breath", "The Scottish Cat", Glasgow Observed" and "The Minister's Cat".