“FOR those who think of Yorkshire as the county where folk wander around wearing flat caps or even venture
on to Ilkley Moor baht ’at, this book will come as a revelation,” says David Stuart Davies.
“Allow me to tell you that Yorkshire - God’s Own Country, as the natives think of it - is not only a county of lush pastures, beautiful undulating dales, starkly atmospheric moorland, picturesque seaside vistas, sturdy industrial towns and picture-book country cottages, but it has been the birthplace or the muse of many great artists, whether they be writers, painters, actors, performers, sculptors - the whole creative range of individuals who have enriched and continue to enrich our culture.
“In this book, we are concentrating on the wordsmiths who through prose and poetry have captured the essence of ‘Yorkshire-ness’ in characters and scenery.”
The book is Yorkshire: A Literary Landscape (Macmillan Collector’s Library), a delightful anthology edited by David, of prose and poetry celebrating the county’s rich heritage of writers.
Yorkshire’s landscapes, its moorland and coastline, and its people have long been depicted in literature; by poets from Andrew Marvell to Simon Armitage, novelists such as Charles Dickens, Elizabeth Gaskell, Bram Stoker, and the Brontës. All are represented in this collection. Then there are post-war novelists such as David Storey and Barry Hines, who wrote about life in mining towns in the 1950s and 60s, and much-loved rural characters, not least James Herriot and Yorkshire Shepherdess, Amanda Owen.
A chapter on coast and countryside explores Emily Brontë’s moorland poem High Waving Heather, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, sweeping into Whitby, Ted Hughes’ Pike, and Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden, set in a Yorkshire country house.
A ‘towns and cities’ chapter features Keith Waterhouse’s novel Billy Liar, which inspired the 1963 film, shot in Bradford; John Braine’s social comment classic Room at the Top; Winifred Holtby’s mighty South Riding and JB Priestley’s delightful romp around provincial England, The Good Companions, Dickens’ Nicholas Nickleby, Anne Lister’s coded diaries, and Alan Bennett’s memoir, Writing Home.
As well as the well known writers, there are nods to the likes of Mary Taylor, Charlotte Bronte’s friend, of Gomersal, and her only novel, Miss Miles, and Dorothy Una Ratcliffe, who wrote in Yorkshire dialect, despite being born in Sussex and brought up in Surrey, ahead of finishing school in Paris.
Says David: “One only has to visit the cobbled streets of Haworth, home of the Brontës, or stand beneath the mellowed walls of the majestic York Minster, or climb up the 199 steps to Whitby Abbey to be transported into realms imbued with life of a bygone age, which continue to inspire a diverse range of writers.
“As the county and its people are rich in contrasts, so was the aim of this book, to capture the diversity of landscape and people over the years. To do this, we have gathered the help of many great writers to weave their magic.
“Some, while not born in Yorkshire, have for various reasons felt inspired to write about it; authors like Charles Dickens, Bram Stoker and Arthur Conan Doyle. However, the majority of contributions come from the pens of Yorkshire natives reaching back in time to such scribes as Cædmon and Andrew Marvell, on to the brilliant Brontë family and flavours of post-war angst from the likes of John Braine and Keith Waterhouse.
“Contemporary viewpoints are provided as well, namely from Ian McMillan - the Bard of Barnsley - and Amanda Owen, the Yorkshire Shepherdess. There are pieces by Alan Bennett and Poet Laureate Simon Armitage too, both national treasures of high literary standing who are adept at illustrating the character of the county and the county’s characters.”
While this anthology celebrates Yorkshire’s natural beauty and literary talent, there is something primal in the poetry and prose that transcends geography. In putting this collection together, David was struck with a thought: “While all the pieces you will find in these pages focus on various aspects of Yorkshire and its people, there is at their heart a universality.
“There is nothing truly parochial about them. They speak to us all wherever we are in the world.”
David Stuart Davies - “a Yorkshireman through and through” - is the author of several novels, plays and non-fiction
books, a film historian and an expert on Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes.
Born in Huddersfield, where he still lives, he studied English at Leeds University and taught English for 20 years before
becoming a fulltime writer.
* David will be reading from Yorkshire: A Literary Landscape at Huddersfield Literature Festival next weekend.
He will be at the Lawrence Batley Theatre on Saturday, March 25, from 1.30pm-2.30pm. Tickets are free and booking is recommended at huddlitfest.org.uk
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