Robert McLellan

Robert McLellan
BornRobert McLellan
(1907-01-28)28 January 1907
Linmill Farm, Kirkfieldbank, Lanarkshire, Scotland
Died27 January 1985(1985-01-27) (aged 77)
High Corrie, Isle of Arran, Scotland
Occupation
  • playwright
  • writer
  • poet
  • elected representative (Arran District Council)
LanguageScots and English
NationalityScottish
Alma materUniversity of Glasgow (1925–1928)
Genre
  • comic drama
  • verse drama
  • poetry
  • radio drama
  • short fiction
  • non-fiction
Subject
  • Scottish character
  • Scottish history
  • notable historical figures
  • Scotland's languages
  • Enlightenment era Edinburgh
  • childhood experience
  • island community life
Literary movementScottish Renaissance
Notable works
  • Toom Byres (1936)
  • Jamie the Saxt (1937)
  • The Carlin Moth (1935)
  • The Flouers o Edinburgh (1948)
  • Sweet Largie Bay (1956)
  • Linmill Stories (composed 1939–1965, collected 1990)
Notable awards
  • Arts Council of Great Britain Poetry Award
  • Civil list pension for services to Scottish literature
  • OBE
SpouseKathleen Heys
Relatives
  • Elizabeth McLellan, née Hannah (d.1928), mother
  • John McLellan (d.1962), founder of the Allander Press, father
  • Sadie McLellan, married surname, Pritchard (b.1914), stained glass artist, sister

Robert McLellan OBE (1907–1985) was a Scottish Renaissance dramatist, writer and poet and a leading figure in the twentieth century movement to recover Scotland’s distinctive theatrical traditions. He found popular success with plays and stories written in his native Scots tongue and is regarded, alongside William Lorimer, as one of the most important modern exponents of fine prose in the language.[1]

In addition to his literary career, McLellan saw active service during World War II, served as an elected councillor for the Isle of Arran, his adopted home after marriage, and was active variously in the League of Dramatists, the Society of Authors and the Lallans Society. In the early 1960s he served briefly as elected President for the District Councils Association for Scotland. He was also a frequent campaigner in defence of local heritage and a dedicated beekeeper.

McLellan today in literature is probably best remembered for the historical comedies, Jamie the Saxt and The Flouers o Edinburgh, and for his short story cycle, Linmill Stories, but his stage-writing career was a long and experimental one spanning over thirty years of crucial development for Scottish theatrical self-expression. In his later career he also wrote for radio and television. He was awarded a Civil List Pension in 1968 for "services to literature in Scotland" and received the Order of the British Empire in 1978.

  1. ^ Scott, Paul Henderson (1998). "Review Essay: The Future of the Scots Language". Scottish Affairs. 24 (First Serie (24): 84. doi:10.3366/scot.1998.0042. Retrieved 22 February 2021 – via Edinburgh University Press.