Joe Corrie (13 May 1894 – 13 November 1968) was a Scottish miner, poet, novelist and playwright best known for his radical, working class plays. He was born in Slamannan,

Stirlingshire Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling ( ) is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county of Scotland. Its county town is Stirling.Registers of Scotland. Publications, leaflets, Land Register Counties. It borders Perthshir ...

in 1894. His family moved to Cardenden in the

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

coalfield when Corrie was still an infant and he started work at the pits in 1908. He died in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

in 1968. Shortly after the First World War, Corrie started writing. His articles, sketches, short stories and poems were published in prominent

socialist newspapers Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

and journals, including ''Forward'' and ''The Miner.'' Corrie's volumes of poetry include ''The Image o' God and Other Poems ''(1927), ''Rebel Poems'' (1932) and ''Scottish Pride and Other Poems ''(1955). T. S. Eliot wrote "Not since Burns has the voice of Scotland spoken with such authentic lyric note". He turned to writing plays during the

General Strike A general strike is a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large coalitions ...

in 1926. His one-act plays and sketches were performed by the Bowhill Players, an amateur company of miners who performed to raise money for local soup kitchens. The company operated professionally as the Fife Miner Players in 1928-31 under the management of comedian and theatrical agent, Hugh Ogilvie. Corrie's first play, ''Hogmanay'' was published by the Fife Miners' Reform Union. His full-length play, ''In Time o' Strife'', depicting the General Strike's effect on the Fife mining community, toured Fife mining villages and musical halls all over Scotland. Described by critic Alan Riach as showing exemplary 'defiance of the spirit'. Corrie wrote at least six plays about

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the List of national poets, national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the be ...

: the full-length ''Robert Burns'' and five one-acts, ''The Rake o’Mauchline'', ''A Man’s A Man; or, Burns Amang the Gentry'', ''There Was a Lad'', ''Clarinda'', and ''Robert Burns and His Highland Mary'', as well as a popular radio adaptation of ''Tam o’ Shanter'' that was performed and broadcast repeatedly for over forty years, and at least half a dozen radio programs for Burns Nights. Corrie wrote a number of plays for groups who took part in the

Scottish Community Drama Association The Scottish Community Drama Association (SCDA) is an association of amateur dramatic clubs throughout Scotland. It was first founded in 1926. Amateur theatre companies in Scotland have generally presented repertoire in English Language, Englis ...

's annual competitive festivals. Winning plays included ''Martha'' (1935), ''And So To War'' (1936) and ''Hewers of Coal'' (1937). A novel, ''Black Earth'', was published in 1939. Corrie's commitment to naturalism invited strong criticism from the Scottish theatrical establishment in his day and caused him to feel disconnected from other Scottish writers. His work was staged professionally by the Scottish National Players and the Citizens' Theatre, Glasgow. Posthumously, the agitprop theatre group, 7:84 republished ''In Time o' Strife'' alongside a collection of writing and poems after their 1982 revival, which Alan Riach has said was met with 'new acclaim'. The Corrie Centre community provision in Cardenden was named after Corrie in 1985. On 24 November 1999, The Merchants o Renown presented ''The Image o' God'', a celebration of the poetry and drama of Joe Corrie, including a performed reading of his one-act play, ''Martha'', at the Netherbow Theatre, Edinburgh. Corrie also wrote songs and many of his poems have been set to music. ''Maid of Kenmore'' was recorded by Robert Wilson. Calum Kennedy recorded ''Kirsteen''. Battlefield Band recorded settings by Alan Reid of ''The Image o' God'', ''Miners Wives'' and ''I Am the Common Man''. In 2013, ''The Joe Corrie Project: Cage Load of Men'', a collection of poems set to contemporary and traditional music, was released. The 2012 feature film, '' The Happy Lands'', was inspired by ''In Time o' Strife'', being set in the same fictional village of Carhill. In 2019, the University of St. Andrews released a biography of Corrie, as well as a guide to his archive and several academic essays in a new website marking the 50th anniversary of his death. This includes papers by Robert Crawford, Tom Hubbard, Willie Hershaw, Malcolm Petrie, Gavin Bowd, Sarah Leith, and Paul Malgrati.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Corrie, Joe 1894 births 1968 deaths Theatre in Scotland 20th-century Scottish dramatists and playwrights Scottish miners People from Falkirk (council area) People associated with Fife People from Cardenden Scottish socialists Proletarian literature 20th-century Scottish poets Scottish male poets

Further reading

References