Canongate Wall vote
To mark the 20th anniversary of the Scottish Parliament building, we are adding three new quotations to the Canongate Wall, which runs along the outside of the Parliament, along the Royal Mile.
These new quotations will be provided by Liz Lochhead, Jackie Kay, and Kathleen Jamie. All three have been the Scots Makar, or National Poet for Scotland.
With input from the Scottish Poetry Library, a selection of their poems has been shortlisted – and now it's over to you to make the final choices!
Voting is now closed. Find the winning quotations below!
Liz Lochhead
The first woman to be Scots Makar, Liz Lochhead, talks about the importance of speaking poetry out loud, and recites the poems where her choice of quotations are taken from.
Jackie Kay
The second woman to be Scots Makar, Jackie Kay, talks about the stories that inspired the two poems that have been shortlisted for the Canongate Wall.
Kathleen Jamie
The most recent of the three Makars, Kathleen reflects on her involvement in the Parliament's opening ceremony in 2021, and talks us through the inspiration behind her two quotations.
The results are in!
Thank you to everyone who took part in the vote.
Here are your winning choices:
Liz Lochhead
this
our one small country…
our one, wondrous, spinning, dear green place.
What shall we build of it, together
in this our one small time and space?
– from Grace, A Handsel, New & Collected Poems, 2012
Jackie Kay
Where do you come from?
'Here,' I said, 'Here. These parts.'
– from In my country, Darling: New & Selected Poems, 2007
Kathleen Jamie
Be brave:
by the weird-song in the dark you’ll find your way.
– from The Storm, The Bonniest Companie, 2015
These words are being sent to Perthshire-based stone carver Gillian Forbes, who will carry out the letter-cutting process, assisted by Cameron Wallace.
The new quotations will be unveiled in June.