Page 30 - LOTN Spring Issue 52 2023

FAITH AND CULTURE
The poet and the observes laconically that George's subsequent conversion to

Catholicism, "was not marked by any change in his daily habits,
including his drinking."
saint of Orkney some years. Parishioner Alison Gray writes how, "his surrender
He had been contemplating entering the Catholic faith for
to Catholicism was... resonant in the wild beauty of Orkney,"
and in its history, central to which was the figure of Magnus. "St
Magnus was a defining influence on Mackay Brown. His life was
BY FR JOHN BOLES framed by St Magnus." Magnus Ellendson (1080-1117) was of
Viking stock. This warlike people had settled in Orkney around
the year 850. He was a Christian nobleman respected for his
"In the Fire of Images, I put my hand."
piety and gentleness. In 1105, the King of Norway appointed
him Earl of Orkney alongside his cousin Haakon. After a while,
hese are the words inscribed on a plaque in conflict broke out between the two cousins. Anxious to avoid
Edinburgh's Royal Mile. They come from the pen further bloodshed, Magnus agreed to join Haakon at a peace
of George Mackay Brown (1921-96), regarded by conference on a neutral island. However, the invitation was a
Tmany as Scotland's greatest writer of the twentieth trap and Haakon had him killed. Almost immediately, Magnus
century. Honoured by various universities, awarded the was revered as a saint and martyr. His remains were transferred to
Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth in 1974, Orkney's main town of Kirkwall and placed in the magnificent
shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Beside the Ocean of Time cathedral begun in 1137 and which bears his name.
in 1994, he became known internationally as 'The Poet of In 1973 George Mackay Brown published Magnus, which
Orkney'. some consider to be his masterwork. Into the novel he weaves a
What few people realise is that he achieved nearly all this traditional belief that Magnus was warned of Haakon's
while living as a reclusive semi-invalid within the confines of treachery the night before and urged to flee. Searching for
the tiny Orcadian port of Stromness. Even fewer are aware that divine guidance, Magnus goes to Mass and realises that Jesus
in 1961 he created a stir in the staunchly Calvinist islands by could also have fled Jerusalem on Maundy Thursday night
becoming a Catholic - and that this conversion drew and saved himself, but didn't, because if there
inspiration from another son of Orkney, the had been no Cross there would have been
Viking earl known to history as St Magnus no resurrection, no triumph of life over
the Martyr. death. So, like Jesus, Magnus stays.
While visiting Columban Like Jesus, Magnus even forgives
supporters on Orkney, local his executioners before they
parishioners shared their despatch him.
recollections of George Mackay For Mackay Brown, the
Brown. saint embodies the Jesus
They remember a quiet, story. He might also have
humble, unassuming member identified, in the trials of
of the Catholic community. Magnus, struggles with his
Columban benefactor Chris own 'demons', such as ill-
Taylor knew him well. "We health, alcohol and periods
never thought of him as this of depression. At any rate,
world-famous writer. For us he God appears to have blessed the
was just, well, George." connection between the two men.
Mackay Brown was born in a tiny When George died in 1996 his
cottage on a wharf in Stromness, the funeral was celebrated by Catholics
youngest of six children. His father became and Protestants alike in the Cathedral of
the village postman, his mother was a native St Magnus. Not only that - but George died on
Gaelic speaker. At an early age George contracted T B, 13th April and so the requiem was fixed for 16th April - the
a condition that was to leave him weakened for the rest of his Feast of St Magnus the Martyr!
life. Registered as unfit for wartime military service, he took
up journalism with a local newspaper and almost immediately
discovered he had a flair for writing. Scattered verses gradually The portrait of George MacKay Brown, painted by the Dutch
merged into books of poems. By the 1960s he was celebrated as artist Fred Schley in 1998, hangs in Stromness Public Library
a poet of international stature, at which point he embarked on [summonedbyfells, Wikimedia Commons].
a similarly successful career as a novelist
Always his inspiration was Orkney - its stark and windswept Fr John Boles is Regional Director of the Columban Missionaries
scenery, its millennial history, its people, legends and folklore. in Britain and this article was first published in ‘Far East’, the
However, it should also be mentioned that along the way Magazine of the Columban Missionaries. To subscribe, visit:
George developed an affinity for the pint as well as the pen. www.columbans.co.uk/fareast-magazine
"Stromness voted itself 'wet' in 1947", George wrote. "Thus, I
made another joyous discovery: beer". Wikipedia's biographer
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