Public asked to vote for new quotes on the Scottish Parliament's Canongate Wall

The Canongate Wall in the Royal Mile already has 26 quotes inscribed on it from figures such as Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott, Hugh MacDarmid, Norman MacCaig and Alasdair Gray. There is currently only one woman writer represented – Mary Brooksbank.

Now, to commemorate the 20th year of its building, the parliament plans to add words of wisdom from three women who have held the role of Scots Makar or National Poet of Scotland - Liz Lochhead, Jackie Kay and Kathleen Jamie.

The Canongate Wall already features 26 quotations from Scots writers and thinkers | Scottish Parliament

And it has put forward two options from each of them for the public to choose between. People are being asked vote through the parliament’s website or its social media channels. Each Makar’s quote which receives the most public votes will then be featured on a new letter-cut stone on the wall.

Liz Lochhead, Makar from 2011 to 2016, said: “I can’t believe it, my words are going to be, not graffiti on a wall, but in stone on the wall of the Parliament.

“It is something that has meant a great deal to me in my lifetime, that we have a parliament in Scotland. Speaking poetry out loud is very important to me and if someone stands outside the wall of the Parliament and mouths these words out loud to themselves, that’s a great thing to feel that I’ve been the innocent originator of these things.”

The quotes chosen will be featured in new letter-cut stones on the wall. | Scottish Parliament

Jackie Kay, Makar from 2016 to 2021 said: “It’s a huge honour and so extraordinary to be carved into stone. It’s so strange to think of your words surviving you – but in a sense, that’s every writer’s dream.”

And Kathleen Jamie, Makar from 2021 to 2024 said: “The fact that words of mine will be joining those that are already there and adding to this wreathing of poetry around the Parliament building, that wall of truth, that wall of integrity that surrounds us here. That words of mine, whichever are chosen, will be inscribed there also. That’s okay, I can go out with that!”

Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone said: “The Canongate Wall is a piece of living public sculpture which celebrates different parts of Scotland – our people, our land and our rich cultural heritage. It is both a celebration and reminder of the powerful words of some of Scotland’s most talented writers, thinkers and poets.

“It’s an honour to have the words of these three incredible women writers carved onto our building as a permanent reminder of their contribution to public life in Scotland.

“As always, when it comes to the Scottish Parliament, I strongly encourage people to vote!”

The choices

The quotations people are being asked to vote on are:

Poet and playwright Liz Lochhead.

Liz Lochhead:

Option 1

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

Option 2

Love surprises us. It’s like when sunlight flings

A sudden shaft that lights up glamourous the rain

Across a Glasgow street

– from Epithalamium, A Handsel, New & Collected Poems

Jackie Kay was Makar from 2016 to 2021. | Denise Else

Jackie Kay:

Option 1

The dead don't go till you do, loved ones.

The dead are still here, holding our hands.

– from Darling, the title poem in Darling: New & Selected Poems, 2007

Option 2

Where do you come from?

'Here,' I said, 'Here. These parts.'

– from In my country, Darling: New & Selected Poems, 2007

Makar Kathleen Jamie.

Kathleen Jamie:

Option 1

Be brave:

by the weird-song in the dark you’ll find your way.

– from The Storm, The Bonniest Companie, 2015

Option 2

And the wild ways we think we walk

Just bring us here again.

– from The Tradition, The Bonniest Companie, 2015