Ulster Rambles

To have been born in the province has been such an honour. Last year I wrote to our great editor Lloyd to explain that I had nothing more to write about. How wrong could I have been. This time around I have so many items to touch on, I do not know where to start. I was watching a great wee program on SBS with Siobhán McSweeney called “Exploring Northern Ireland.” It brought back so many memories as well as touching on a few explorations and personalities that I had missed and of course many that I have written about in this article over the years. Through the program, I was introduced to one Colin Davidson, an artist, who started to paint Belfast in his teens, and this theme came to the fore in 2004 when his exhibition No Continuing City was mounted at the Tom Caldwell Gallery. The exhibition included large paintings of Belfast as seen from high viewpoints. The urban theme continued between 2006 and 2010 when Davidson made paintings based on the illusionary world seen in city window reflections. Since 2010 Davidson’s work has been concerned with the human face and the resulting large scale head paintings are now recognised internationally. His portraits of Brad Pitt, Michael Longley and Seamus Heaney are held in the collection of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC, the Ulster Museum in Belfast and the National gallery of Ireland in Dublin respectively. I would like to mention here (as always) that he went to my alma mater: The Methodist College in Belfast. The final name I mentioned was of course a famous poet. Seamus Heaney was born on 13 April 1939, at the family farmhouse called Mossbawn, between Castledawson and Toomebridge. (see map on top of p.22) He was the first of nine children. In 1953, his family moved to Bellaghy, a few miles away, which is now the family home. His father was Patrick Heaney a farmer and cattle dealer, and the eighth child of ten born to James and Sarah Heaney. Patrick was introduced to cattle dealing by his uncles, who raised him after his

Heaney studied English Language and Literature at Queen's University Belfast starting in 1957. While there, he found a copy of Ted Hughes's Lupercal, which spurred him to write poetry. "Suddenly, the matter of contemporary poetry was the material of my own life," he said. He graduated in 1961 with a First-Class Honours degree.

Yours truly attended the same University; majoring in Chemistry although I saw myself as a bit of a poet. I was of course made to study science as “that’s where the jobs are son!” To help my literary creative side (I had failed my first English exam at school as I

parents’ early deaths. Heaney’s mother was Margaret Kathleen McCann whose relatives worked at a local linen mill. Heaney remarked on the inner tension between the rural Gaelic past exemplified by his father and the industrialized Ulster exemplified by his mother. Heaney studied English Language and Literature at Queen’s University Belfast starting in 1957. While there, he found a copy of Ted Hughes’s Lupercal, which spurred him to write poetry. “Suddenly, the matter of contemporary poetry was the material of my own life,” he said. He graduated in 1961 with a First-Class Honours degree. Yours truly attended the same University; majoring in Chemistry although I saw myself as a bit of a poet. I was of course made to study science as “that’s where the jobs are son!” To help my literary creative side (I had failed my first English exam at school as I answered only the essay question having run out of time before I completed The story) I helped out with the Belfast Festival which at the time (1966) was very much attached to the University. In 1965 the festival had commissioned some poets to turn their expertise in writing a few verses for publication. I came across them in a box the year later. There were at least three different booklets by Derek Mahon Michael Longley and

of course Seamus Heaney. They were sold around Belfast, Dublin and Scotland for a very modest price. 1s and 6d comes to mind but maybe it was half a crown. Of course, I had to google it. What a shock for me when I found the information below. Yes! $3000. Now these were only pamphlets with soft exercise book covers so I had to google it again to ensure I was not seeing things. Sure enough, there it was again. £750 for a 3rd edition and £2250 for a second edition. My pamphlets were all first editions. How much would they be worth? So, what did I do with this information? I phoned my sister immediately who (believe it or not) still has in her possession a few boxes of my momentums over youthful times. That is around 1967. I might have five or six of these booklets or Pamphlets. If you do not hear from me in the next edition, you can assume the outcome. Now Heaney studied for a teacher certification at St Joseph’s Teacher Training College in Belfast (now merged with St Mary’s, University College), and began teaching at St Thomas’ Secondary Intermediate School in Ballymurphy, Belfast. The headmaster of this school was the writer Michael McLaverty from County Monaghan, who introduced Heaney to the poetry of Patrick Kavanagh. With McLaverty’s mentorship, Heaney first started to publish poetry in 1962. Sophia Hillan describes how Yes! $3000. Now these were only pamphlets with soft exercise book covers so I had to McLaverty was like a foster father to the google it again to ensure I was not seeing things. younger Belfast poet. In the introduction to McLaverty’s Collected Works, Heaney

summarised the poet’s contribution and influence: “His voice was modestly pitched, he never sought the limelight, yet for all that, his place in our literature is secure.”Heaney’s poem Fosterage, in the sequence Singing School from North (1975), is dedicated to him. Heaney’s first major volume, Death of a Naturalist, was published in 1966 by Faber and Faber. This collection was met with much critical acclaim and won several awards, including the Gregory Award for Young Writers and the Geoffrey Faber Prize. The same year, he was appointed as a lecturer in Modern English Literature at Queen’s University Belfast. In 1968, Heaney and Michael Longley undertook a reading tour called Room to Rhyme, which increased awareness of the poet’s work. The following year, he published his second major volume, Door into the Dark. Seamus Heaney in 1970 from “Digging”, Death of a Naturalist (1966)

My grandfather cut more turf in a day Than any other man on Toner’s bog. Once I carried him milk in a bottle

Corked sloppily with paper. He straightened up To drink it, then fell to right away Nicking and slicing neatly, heaving sods Over his shoulder, going down and down For the good turf. Digging.

The cold smell of potato mould, the squelch and slap

Of soggy peat, the curt cuts of an edge Through living roots awaken in my head. But I’ve no spade to follow men like them. Between my finger and my thumb The squat pen rests. I’ll dig with it.

Davidson very kindly donated this study of Seamus Heaney (below) for the online timed auction ‘Collectors and Artists for Ukraine’. It’s being run by Adam’s Dublin in conjunction with Suzanne MacDougald to aid the Irish Red Cross’s humanitarian work in delivering vital services to millions of people impacted by the conflict in Ukraine. With no buyers premium, 100% of the hammer price will go directly to the Irish Red Cross. It is a very worthy cause (there are so many) in the present time. I therefore recommend you scour your old bookshelves for any school poetry book or pamphlet that might be lying around collecting dust. They could be worth a small or large fortune depending on your present financial situation. If you cannot find one, do not fret and do not write to let me know. As always, may your God go with you.