Violet Jacob (1 September 1863 – 9 September 1946) was a Scottish writer known especially for her historical novel ''Flemington'' and for her poetry, mainly in Scots. She was described by a fellow Scottish poet Hugh MacDiarmid as "the most considerable of contemporary vernacular poets".

Early life

Jacob was born Violet Augusta Mary Frederica Kennedy-Erskine, at the

House of Dun The House of Dun is a National Trust for Scotland property in the parish of Dun, lying close to the edge of Montrose Basin and situated approximately halfway between the towns of Montrose and Brechin, in Angus, Scotland. History The Dun Estate ...

, the daughter of William Henry Kennedy-Erskine (1 July 1828 – 15 September 1870) of Dun, Forfarshire, a captain in the

17th Lancers The 17th Lancers (Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a Cavalry regiments of the British Army, cavalry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1759 and notable for its participation in the Charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War. The regim ...

and Catherine Jones (died 13 February 1914), the only daughter of William Jones of Henllys,

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire (; or informally ') is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. ...

. Her father was the son of John Kennedy-Erskine (1802–1831) of Dun and Augusta FitzClarence (1803–1865), the illegitimate daughter of

King William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded hi ...

and Dorothy Jordan. She was a great-granddaughter of

Archibald Kennedy, 1st Marquess of Ailsa Archibald Kennedy, 1st Marquess of Ailsa, Order of the Thistle, KT, Royal Society, FRS (February 1770 – 8 September 1846), styled Lord Kennedy between 1792–4 and known as the Earl of Cassillis between 1794 and 1831, was a British peerage, Sco ...

. The area of Montrose where her family seat of Dun was situated was the setting for much of her fiction. She married, at St John's Episcopal Church, Princes Street, Edinburgh, on 27 October 1894, Arthur Otway Jacob (1867–1936), an Irish

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

, and accompanied him to India where he was serving. Her book ''Diaries and letters from India 1895–1900'' is about their stay in the Central Indian town of Mhow. The couple had one son, Harry, born in 1895, who died as a soldier at the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme (; ), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and the French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 Nove ...

in 1916. Arthur died in 1936, and Violet returned to live at

Kirriemuir Kirriemuir ( , ; ), sometimes called Kirrie or the ''Wee Red Toon'', is a burgh in Angus, Scotland, United Kingdom. The playwright J. M. Barrie was born and buried here and a statue of Peter Pan is in the town square. History Some of th ...

, in Angus. She died of heart disease on 9 September 1946 and was buried beside her husband at the graveyard at Dun.

Scots poetry

Violet Jacob was described by Hugh MacDiarmid as "by far the most considerable of contemporary vernacular poets", a view he did not rescind over a fifty-year period. She was particularly known for her poems in the Angus dialect. Her poetry was associated with that of Scots revivalists like Marion Angus, Alexander Gray and Lewis Spence, who drew their inspiration from early Scots poets such as

Robert Henryson Robert Henryson (Middle Scots: Robert Henrysoun) was a poet who flourished in Scotland in the period c. 1460–1500. Counted among the Scots language, Scots ''makars'', he lived in the royal burgh of Dunfermline and is a distinctive voice in th ...

and William Dunbar, rather than from

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 ...

. Jacob is commemorated in Makars' Court, outside the

Writers' Museum The Writers’ Museum, housed in Lady Stair’s House, Lady Stair's House at the Lawnmarket on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, presents the lives of three of the foremost Scottish writers: Robert Burns, Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson. Ru ...

, Lawnmarket, Edinburgh. Selections for Makars' Court are made by the Writers' Museum, The Saltire Society and The Scottish Poetry Library. In 1936 she was awarded an honorary LLD degree by Edinburgh University. ''The Wild Geese'', a conversation between the author and the North Wind, is a melancholic poem on the theme of homesickness. It was set to music as ''Norlan' Wind'' and popularised by Angus singer and songmaker

Jim Reid James McLeish Reid (born 29 December 1961) is a Scottish singer/songwriter and the lead singer for the alternative rock band The Jesus and Mary Chain, which he formed with his elder brother and guitarist William Reid (musician), William Reid ...

, who also set to music other poems by Jacob and those other Angus poets such as Marion Angus and Helen Cruikshank. Another version, sung by Cilla Fisher and Artie Trezise, appeared on their 1979

Topic Records Topic Records is a British folk music label, which played a major role in the second British folk revival. It began as an offshoot of the Workers' Music Association in 1939, making it the oldest independent record label in the world.M. Brocken ...

album ''Cilla and Artie''. Traditional folk band Malinky are among many other artists who have released versions of ''Norland Wind''.

Prose

Apart from her collections of poetry and short stories, Violet Jacob published an Erskine family history (''Lairds of Dun'', 1931) and five novels, the best known of which is the tragic ''Flemington'' (1911; reissued in 1994), set in the aftermath of the

Jacobite rising of 1745 The Jacobite rising of 1745 was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the Monarchy of Great Britain, British throne for his father, James Francis Edward Stuart. It took place during the War of the Austrian Succession, when the bulk of t ...

. ''Flemington'' was described by

John Buchan John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir (; 26 August 1875 – 11 February 1940) was a Scottish novelist, historian, British Army officer, and Unionist politician who served as Governor General of Canada, the 15th since Canadian Confederation. As a ...

as "the best Scots romance since ''

The Master of Ballantrae ''The Master of Ballantrae: A Winter's Tale'' is an 1889 novel by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, focusing upon the conflict between two brothers, Scottish noblemen whose family is torn apart by the Jacobite rising of 1745. He wo ...

''".

Works

*
The Sheep-stealers
' (1902), novel *
The Infant Moralist
' (1903), poems *
The Interloper
' (1904), novel *
The Golden Heart & other fairy stories
' (1904), stories *
Verses
' (1905) *
Irresolute Catherine
' (1908), novella *
The History of Aythan Waring
' (1908), novel *
Stories Told by the Miller
' (1909) *
The Fortune-hunters and Other Stories
' (1910) *
Flemington
' (1911), novel *
Songs of Angus
' (1915), poems *
More songs of Angus and others
' (1918), poems *
Bonnie Joann and other poems
' (1921) *
Tales of my own country
' (1922), short stories *
Two new poems
' (1924), poems *
The Northern Lights and other poems
' (1927), poems *
The good child's year book
' (1928) *
The Lairds of Dun
' (1931), family history *
The Scottish poems of Violet Jacob
' (1944), poems *''The Lum hat and other stories: Last tales of Violet Jacob'' (1982), short stories *''Diaries and letters from India 1895–1900'' (1990)

Reviews

Isobel Murray (1983), "The Forgotten Violet Jacob", reviewing ''The Lum Hat and Other Stories''", in Sheila G. Hearn, ed., '' Cencrastus'' No. 13, Summer 1983, p. 54

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jacob, Violet 1863 births 1946 deaths 20th-century Scottish writers Doric poets History of Angus, Scotland People from Angus, Scotland Schuyler family Scots-language poets Scottish novelists Scottish people of Dutch descent Scottish people of Welsh descent Scottish Renaissance Scottish women novelists Scottish women poets Van Cortlandt family