Interview of Ian Ross : Interview

Ian Simpson Ross (9 August 1930, Dundee). He remembers growing up in the Depression and watching unemployed men line up outside the “burro” – the bureau – to get their dole money. He went to Blackness Primary, Dundee. He then received a bursary to go to Harris Academy, Dundee; he started out doing technical subjects, but was encouraged to take Latin in his third year. He didn’t pass his Higher Latin, however. He remembers being very active in Sports at school – rugby, football, golf, cricket. At 18 he was called up to do his National Service with the RAF (inspection services). He used to study in a city centre library in Dundee. His interest in Scottish history began at Harris and his interest in Scottish literature began through his reading his brother Angus’ collection of Scottish books. This was all just after the founding of the Scottish National Party in 1934. In 1950 he entered St Andrews University (he received a state grant in his first year and was then awarded a full scholarship). He studied for an MA in English Literature and graduated with First-class honours in 1954. He specialized in Elizabethan and Jacobean Literature. He was then offered the Tindal-Bruce Scholarship at Merton College Oxford (B.Litt) in 1956 and researched what happened to James VI’s court poets when James moved the Scottish court down to London. His supervisor was David Nichol Smith, the brother of George Gregory Smith, author of the influential book Scottish Writing: Character and Influence (1919). After graduating from Oxford, he applied for the Fulbright Scholarship and was accepted into the Ph.D program at the University of Texas to research several figures of the Scottish Enlightenment under the supervision of Earnest Mostner. It was in Texas that he met his wife, Maud Cardwell, who was divorced with two children. They had a daughter of their own called Eila. After graduating from the University of Texas, he decided to go to Canada, mainly due to wife’s desire to not go to UK and to be close to her two sons in America. He was offered an instructorship at the University of British Columbia and taught his speciality—18th century literature—in which he managed to “smuggle in” some Scottish philosophy and literature. He wrote books on Lord Kames, William Dunbar, and Adam Smith. He became head of the English department in 1982 before retiring in 1987. While in Canada, he says a lot of people commented on his accent, although it was mainly positive. He went back to Scotland a few times, mainly for book research and to see his parents when they were alive. He says that a lot of people in Scotland were interested in what he was doing over in Canada and that he remembers speaking to many people who had/have relations in Canada themselves. When he returns to Scotland, he always feels drawn to it because he has a lot of family and friends there, and his interest in Scottish literature and history merely fuels this feeling. In Canada he helped organize Burns Suppers, although he stopped this in 2002 because it was getting to be too much work. He also tried to organize St. Andrew’s Day celebrations at UBC—the singing of Gaelic songs, etc.—but this didn’t work out. He still enjoys Scottish food—cockaleekie soup is mentioned—and bagpipe music. He also has a love for Scottish country dancing, and went to several such dances at UBC. His personal favourites are: “The Duke of Perth”, “The Glasgow Highlanders”, “The Eightsome Reel”, and “Strip the Willow”. He enjoys the novels of Sir Walter Scott and Lewis Grassic Gibbon, and he has read some James Kelman, Liam McIllvanny, and Liz Lochhead; but his major passion is the Scottish Makars and Scottish Ballads and Folk Songs. While in Texas, for example, he witnessed the collection of American/Mexican border ballads and American folk songs, and it reinforced his love of Scottish ballads and folk tales and songs. To close the interview, Ian sings three of his favourite ballads: “The Dundee Weaver”, “The Barnyards of Delgaty”, and “The Wee Cooper o’ Fife”. His father was called John Gibson Ross (1899, Forfar). He came from a family of eight and was a middle son: Agnes was the oldest, then William, David, then John (father), Jess, Nell, James, and Patrick. He worked in jute mills in Dundee. He left school at 12 and became a “half-timer” – that is, he spent half a day at school and half a day at the jute mills. When war broke out, he tried to join the Navy (at 16), but his father put a stop to this.... He was eventually called up at 18. He went to Stirling to train with Cameron Highlanders and was then assigned to the Seaforth Highlanders before being sent to France on March 18th, 1918. He was badly wounded after his trench was overrun; his eye was badly damaged by

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