Alexander Reid
Alexander Reid (1914–1982) was a Scottish journalist, playwright and poet, "one of the neglected dramatists of the Scottish Renaissance". His two best-known plays are The Lass wi' the Muckle Mou (1950), based on the legend of Thomas the Rhymer and The Warld's Wonder (1953), about Michael Scot, the famous magician.
Alexander Reid
- Name
- Alexander Reid
- Born
- 19 August 1914
- Birthplace
- Edinburgh
- Died
- 1 July 1982
- Occupation
- journalist, playwright
- Education
- George Heriot's School, Edinburgh
- Movement
- Scottish Renaissance
- Fields
- drama · poetry · Scottish literature
- Languages
- English
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In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Alexander Reid • Born — 19 August 1914 • Birthplace — Edinburgh • Died — 1 July 1982 • Occupation — journalist, playwright • Education — George Heriot's School, Edinburgh • Genre — drama • Movement — Scottish Renaissance • Notable Works — The Lass wi' the Muckle Mou
Life
Life
Alexander Reid was born on 19 August 1914 in Edinburgh, and educated at George Heriot's School. From 1929 to 1936 he worked as a journalist for the Edinburgh Evening News, before writing on Scottish history and literature for the SMT Magazine. In 1938, he contributed an article on the General Post Office Pavilion at the Empire Exhibition in Glasgow to the Scottish Field. A conscientious objector during World War II, he worked as a bookseller and accountant before becoming a full-time writer and broadcaster in 1948. His first play, World Without End (1946), was a contemporary piece about nuclear holocaust, but he is now best remembered for his period plays in Scots. The Lass wi' the Muckle Mou was first performed at the Glasgow Citizens' Theatre in November 1950. It was adapted as a television drama, first broadcast by the BBC on Tuesday 6 October 1953, and was staged again by Edinburgh's Gateway Theatre Company during its 1954-55 season. The Warld's Wonder was produced at the Gateway in the autumn of 1958. Reid's short stories include The Kitten and A Warm Golden Brown. Reid edited the Saltire Society's quarterly Saltire Review from 1954 until 1960. He died in Edinburgh on 1 July 1982.
Other plays
Other plays
• World Without End, 1946 • The Wax Doll, 1956 • Voyage Ashore, 1956
Published works
• Steps to a Viewpoint, 1947 • Zoo-illogical Rhymes, 1947 • The Milky Way, 1956 • Kirk and Drama, 1957 • Two Scots Plays (The Lass wi' the Muckle Mou and The Warld's Wonder), 1958 • The Young Traveller in France, 1963
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Text attribution
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The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Alexander Reid (playwright), revision 1371331056 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.The Edinburgh Festivals: Culture and Society in Postwar Britain – Angela Bartie – 2013 p. 80 "In 1957 one prominent playwright and commentator on theatre, Alexander Reid, had charged that the Festival had got 'bogged down' and was in danger of collapsing once its novelty wore off, unless the organisers found a continuing purpose."
- 2.Trevor Royle. Macmillan Companion to Scottish Literature. Macmillan International Higher Education. 246. 1984. 978-1-349-07587-4.
- 3.Reid, Alexander (1958), Two Scots Plays, Collins
- 4.Peter, Bruce (2025), Art Deco Scotland: Design and Architecture in the Jazz Age, Historic Environment Scotland, Edinburgh, p. 152,
- 5.Smith, Donald, "The Mid-Century Dramatists", in Brown, Ian (ed.) The Edinburgh Companion to Scottish Drama, Edinburgh University Press, pp. 122 & 123,
- 6.The Lass wi' the Muckle Mou, Scotland On-Air
- 7.Edinburgh Gateway Company (1965), The Twelve Seasons of the Edinburgh Gateway Company, 1953 - 1965, St. Giles Press, Edinburgh, pp. 43 - 56
- 8.Reid, Alexander, "The Kitten", in Millar, Robert & Low, J.T. (eds.) (1973), Ten Modern Scottish Stories, Heinemann Educational Books, Edinburgh, pp. 3 - 5,
- 9.Reid, Alexander, "A Warm Golden Brown", in Millar, Robert & Low, J.T. (eds.) (1976), Further Modern Scottish Stories, Heinemann Educational Publishing, Edinburgh, pp. 11 - 15,
- 10.Reid, Alexander (ed.), Saltire Review 1, The Saltire Society, Edinburgh, April 1954
References
Citations
References
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 21 August 2026.
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