Makars' Court facts for kids

Makars' Court is a special place in Edinburgh where famous Scottish writers are celebrated.

Makars' Court is a lovely courtyard in the heart of Edinburgh, Scotland. It's part of a small alleyway called Lady Stair's Close, which connects the historic Lawnmarket street to The Mound area. Right next door, you'll find the Writers' Museum. Makars' Court is like an "ever-growing national writing monument" because it has quotes from Scottish books and poems carved into its paving stones. These quotes come from works written in different languages used by Scots people over time: Gaelic, Scots, English, and even Latin.

What is a Makar?

The word makar comes from the Scots language. It means an author or writer, but it also highlights their skill and creativity in writing. Since 2002, the city of Edinburgh has even had its own official Makar, who is like a special poet or writer for the city.

In 1997, a group called the Saltire Society chose twelve important Scottish writers. Quotes from their works were then carved onto stone slabs and placed in the courtyard next to the museum. The very first stone was revealed by Ronald Harwood, who was the president of International PEN (a group for writers). The other stones were unveiled by the poet Iain Crichton Smith. New inscriptions are still being added to Makars' Court, making it a living tribute to Scottish literature.

Meet the Makars: Famous Scottish Writers

Makars' Court celebrates many amazing Scottish writers. Here's a look at some of the people honored there and the powerful words they left behind. Their quotes are carved into the stones, showing how important their ideas and stories are.

Makar	Image	Language	Quotation	Work quoted
J. K. Annand		Scots	"Sing it aince for pleisure / Sing it twice for joy"
John Barbour		Scots	"Fredome is a noble thing"	The Brus
James Boswell		English	"I rattled down the High Street in high elevation of spirits"	London Journal
James Bridie		English	"Who knows the heart of a man and what moves in that darkness?"	Susannah and the Elders
George Mackay Brown		English	"In the fire of images / Gladly I put my hand"	"Hamnavoe"
John Buchan		English	"We can only repay our debt to the past by putting the future in debt to us"	An Address to the people of Canada on the Coronation of George VI
George Buchanan		Latin	"Populo enim jus est ut imperium cui velit deferat" (For it is right that the people confer power on whom they please)	De Iure Regni apud Scottos
Robert Burns		Scots	"Man to man the world o'er / Shall brithers be for a that"	"Is There for Honest Poverty"
Helen Cruickshank		English	"the spirit endures for ever"	"Spring in the Mearns"
David Daiches		English	"Bridge-building is my vocation"	Natural Light: Portraits of Scottish Writers
Gavin Douglas		Scots	"mak it braid and plane / Kepand na sudron bot our awyn langage"	Eneados
William Dunbar		Scots	"The flesche is brukle, the Feynd is sle / Timor Mortis conturbat me"	Lament for the Makars
Dorothy Dunnett		English	"Where are the links of the chain... joining us to the past?"	Checkmate
Robert Fergusson		Scots	"Auld Reikie, wale o ilka town"	"Auld Reikie"
James Allan Ford		English	"Sing out the silence, fill for ever and ever the emptiness"	A Statue for a Public Place
John Galt		Scots	"birr and smeddum"	Annals of the Parish
Robert Garioch		Scots	"in simmer, whan aa sorts foregether / in Embro to the ploy"	"Embro to the Ploy"
Neil M. Gunn		English	"Knowledge is high in the head... but the salmon of wisdom swims deep"	The Green Isle of the Great Deep
Robert Henryson		Scots	"Blissed be sempill lyfe withoutin dreid"	The Moral Fabillis
Violet Jacob		Scots	"There's muckle lyin yont the Tay that's mair to me nor life"	Flemington
George Campbell Hay		Scots/ Gaelic	"The hert's the compass toe the place that ye wad gae whan land ye lea. Cha chuir ceann is cridh' air iomrall thu Bi iomlan is bi beò" (Head and heart will not lead you astray, be complete and alive.')	Collected Poems and Songs of George Campbell Hay (Deorsa Mac Iain Dheorsa)
Willaim Sydney Graham		Scots	"What is the language using us for?"	Implements in Their Places
George Bruce		English	"The see trembles- voiceless / It is the rare moment / when a word is sought"	Pursuit. Poems
John Muir		English	"I care to live only to entice people to look at Nature's loveliness"	Wilderness Essays
David Lyndsay		Scots	"Lat us haif the bukis necessare / To commoun weill"	Ane Dialog betuix Experience and Ane Courteour
Fionn MacColla		English	"my roots in the soil of Alba"	The Albannach
Hugh MacDiarmid		Scots	"Drums in the Walligate, pipes in the air / The wallopin' thistle is ill to bear"	A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle
Somhairle MacGill-Eain		Gaelic	"nan robh againn Alba shaor / Alba co-shinte ri ar gaol" (If we had Scotland free / Scotland equal to our love)	"Am Boilseabhach"
Robert McLellan		Scots	"The pouer to bigg a braw warld in his brain / Marks man the only craitur that can greit"	The Carlin Moth
Lachlan Mor MacMhuirich		Gaelic	"A Chlanna Cuinn cuimhnichibh / Cruas an àm na h-iorghaile" (O Children of Conn, remember / Hardihood in time of battle)	Harlaw Brosnachadh
Elizabeth Melville, Lady Culross		Scots	"Though tyrants threat, though Lyons rage and rore Defy them all, and feare not to win out"	Ane Godlie Dreame
Màiri Mhòr nan Òran		Gaelic	"Cuimhnichibh gur sluagh sibh / Is cumaibh suas ur còir" (Remember that you are a people / And stand up for your rights)	"Eilean a' Cheò"
Naomi Mitchison		English	"Go back far enough and all humankind are cousins"	Early in Orcadia
Neil Munro		English	"And yet, and yet, this New Road will some day be the Old Road, too"	The New Road
Tom Scott		Scots	"Weird hou men maun aye be makin war / Insteid o things they need"	Brand the Builder
Sir Walter Scott		English	"This is my own, my native land!"	"The Lay of the Last Minstrel"
Nan Shepherd		English	"Its a grand thing to get leave to live"	The Quarry Wood
Sydney Goodsir Smith		Scots	"Bards hae sung o lesser luves than I o thee / Oh my great follie and my granderie"	Under the Eildon Tree
Iain Crichton Smith		Gaelic and English	"Let our three-voiced country sing in a new world"	"The Beginning of a New Song"
Muriel Spark		English	"The Transfiguration of the Commonplace"	The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
Robert Louis Stevenson		English	"There are no stars so lovely as Edinburgh street lamps"	The Silverado Squatters
Nigel Tranter		English	"You intend to bide here? To be sure. Can you think of anywhere better?"	Columba
Douglas Young		Scots	"He was eident, he was blye, in Scotland's cause"	"For Willie Soutar"