Periodical Literature, Scotland

Periodical Literature — Scotland

No Catholic periodical of any kind seems to have made its appearance in Scotland until after the Emancipation Act of 1829. Three years subsequent to the passing of that act, namely in April, 1832, James Smith, an Edinburgh solicitor, and father of William Smith (Archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, 1885-92), started a monthly journal called the "Edinburgh Catholic Magazine", editing it himself. The publication was suspended with the number of November, 1833, but was resumed in February, 1837. In April, 1838, however, Mr. Smith having removed to England, the word "Edinburgh" was dropped from the title of the magazine, which continued to be published in London until the end of 1842. More than fifty years later another monthly magazine, the "Scottish Catholic Monthly", was established and edited by Goldie Wilson. It existed for three years, from October, 1893, until December, 1896. The Benedictines of Fort Augustus founded and conducted a magazine called "St. Andrew's Cross", from August, 1902, to November, 1903, as a quarterly, and from January, 1904, to December, 1905, as a monthly, after which it was discontinued. The French Premonstratensian Canons, who made a foundation in the Diocese of Galloway in 1889, and remained there for a few years, published for a short time, at irregular intervals, a periodical called the "Liberator", which was something of a literary curiosity, being written in English by French fathers whose acquaintance with that language was very rudimentary. A quarterly magazine, called "Guth na-Bliadhna (the "Voice of the Year"), was started in 1904 by the Hon. R. Erskine, a convert to Catholicism, who still (1911) edits it. The articles, which are of Catholic and general interest, are nearly all written in the Gaelic language. A little monthly, called the "Catholic Parish Magazine", is printed in Glasgow, and is localized (with parochial news) for a number of missions in Glasgow and Galloway.

No Catholic daily paper has ever been published in Scotland, although the possibility of successfully conducting such a paper, in Glasgow, has been more than once under consideration. Of weekly papers the first issued seems to have been the "Glasgow Free Press", which came into Catholic hands about 1850, and was published, under various editors, for several years. The "Northern Times" was started in opposition to this, but only survived about eighteen months. The "Irish Exile", another weekly, was started in 1884, and ran for about eighteen months. Finally, in 1885, the "Glasgow Observer" came into existence, and is now, with its affiliated papers, printed for circulation in Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee, and Lanarkshire, the only Catholic weekly published in Scotland. The Glasgow "Star", which was started in 1895, and was conducted for some years in the interest of the publicans, in opposition to the temperance policy of the "Observer", was finally (in 1908) acquired by the latter paper, which now issues it mid-weekly.

D. O. HUNTER-BLAIR.