There are few details currently known about this society and its magazine. According to an obituary notice for Frank Hogg in The Hawick Express, it may have been the Hawick Literary Society that was referred to as the ‘young men’s literary society’ that is given as one of the ways that Hogg — a known member — helped to encourage a ‘taste’ for literature. This article states that he ‘had the credit of helping to inaugurate the first course of lectures [for the young men’s literary society] in the Exchange Hall’ (‘The Late Mr Frank Hogg’, The Hawick Express, 21 February 1880, p. 3).

The evidence for the production of a society magazine for this group comes from an article on Hogg in Hawick Songs and Song Writers (1881). According to the article, the song, ‘I like Auld Hawick’ was written anonymously for the Hawick Literary Society MS. Magazine in 1867. Hogg sang it himself at a dinner in 1879, revealing himself as its author.

Name of Club, Society or Group That Produced the Magazine

Hawick Literary Society

Date of Existence

1867?-?

Date of Magazine

1867

Number of Issues

(at least) 1 (not extant)

Manuscript/Published Magazine

Manuscript

Contents and Contributions

Song (original); (other contents currently unknown)

Repository

Hawick Library (The Hawick Express and Hawick Songs and Song Writers)

Reference

Local History, LR828 MUR (Hawick Songs and Song Writers, 2nd edn, 1889; 3rd edn, 1897)

Overview

A summary of the history of the Glasgow Philological and Literary Club is available on our sister website, Glasgow’s Literary Bonds (see ‘Additional Notes’ below).

‘A Book of “Ours”‘ is the only magazine that was produced by this group. According to the ‘Prefatory Note’, it was the result of a meeting held on 22 February 1907 at which one of the members read a paper about the club, highlighting it with his original sketches using lantern slides prepared by another member. The effect was a hit, and a Committee duly formed to see about the preservation of the sketches, and about adding other materials, the audience for which would be the group members and their friends.

The result is a lively, good-humoured magazine full of tributes to and insights about the club along with insider jokes, which were the subjects of its eclectic mix of poetry, toasts, and songs that are accompanied numerous sketches, cartoons and photographs. The spirit of one of camaraderie and bonhomie between its members.

The magazine has 44 pages (unpaginated). In addition to the ‘Prefatory Note’, it contains: six poems; one toast in the form of a poem; three souvenirs/poems; six songs or ballads; two toast lists, four menus with toast lists, and three programmes/menus from club dinners; a humorous, mock list of rules; a rebus of the 1896-7 session; twelve pages of illustrations and cartoons; and six pages of photographs of the members.

It is currently unknown how many copies of this magazine was produced.

Name of Club, Society or Group That Produced the Magazine

Glasgow Philological and Literary Club (aka This Club of Ours, Our Literary and Social Club, or ‘Ours’ Club) (Glasgow)

Date of Existence

1871-present

Date of Magazine

1909

Number of Issues

1

Manuscript/Published Magazine

Print (Glasgow: Wm. Lyon, 1909)

Contents and Contributions

Art/Illustrations (original); Ballads (original); Menus (Club suppers); Outing schedules (Club excursions); Photographs(members); Poems (original); Preface; Programmes (Club supper); Puzzles; Rules (mock); Songs (original);  Souvenirs; Toast Lists (Club supper)

Repository

University of Glasgow Special Collections

Reference

‘A Book of “Ours”‘ (“Ours” Literary and Social Club. A book of “Ours.” Contributions by the members. [Andrew Lyon, Editor] (Glasgow, 1909) (Sp Coll Bh11-c.28, Wylie Collection)

Additional Notes

See also entry for Glasgow Philological and Literary Club (aka This Club of Ours or ‘Ours’ Club) on our sister website, Glasgow’s Literary Bonds.

Overview

The Paisley Literary and Convivial Association was a group of about 25 men who met weekly on Saturday nights between 1814 until around 1864 for readings, discussion of pre-selected topics, and to read their original essays and literary compositions on a range of subjects. The minute book has survived and is also housed in Paisley Heritage Centre (see the Centre’s online catalogue for further details, and below for reference number).

There are two volumes (i.e. two copies) of the ‘Manuscript Book of the Literary & Convivial Association’, Volume II being the original. This manuscript book is a total of 78 pages of original poems and songs, and the contributions are signed by the association members. At the back of the book is a table of contents.

Volume I provides a history of the society and its members, which included the poets James Yool, John King, William Stewart and James Whitehill.  Yool was a weaver all his life. At around age 20, he began to publish his poetry. Stewart, a working-class man from Paisley, is described as a ‘self-made man’, who later became a teacher and emigrated to Canada. King (aka ‘Curly King’) was also a weaver.

Another member, Matthew Erskine was a weaver, later a foreman in the warehouse of J&J Robertson, shawl manufacturers. William Mardock (also Murdock) was a shoemaker who later emigrated to Canada. He worked as a lighthouse keeper, later in the newspaper trade, and published his poems.

Name of Club, Society or Group That Produced the Magazine

Paisley Literary and Convivial Association

Date of Existence

1814-1856 (‘resuscitated’ in 1860s until ?)

Date of Magazine

(compositions are from various dates added later)

Number of Issues

1 (a second, manuscript copy of this is also available in archives (Vol. 1); original is listed as Vol. 2)

Manuscript/Published Magazine

Manuscript

Contents and Contributions

Clippings (printed material); Poems (original); Songs (original); Table of Contents; Title page

Repository

Paisley Heritage Centre (Central Library)

Reference

Heritage 366 PA PC20134 Archives (Vols. 1 & 2);

Heritage 651.77 PA PC22140 Archives (Minute Book)

Overview

A summary of the history of the New Literary Club is available on our sister website, Glasgow’s Literary Bonds (see ‘Additional Notes’ below).

The first issue of this magazine was produced in January 1893, four months after the club was founded. According to its Editor, the magazine was ‘instituted in order to allow those who are not public speakers or orators to contribute in writing original pieces of Literature’ (Andrew Ross, ‘Editorial’, New Literary Club Magazine, 18 January 1893, p. 3). At that point, the club had not yet worked out what pieces to include within it, but members generally agreed that these should be on subjects ‘which are common and instructive to all’ (Ibid).

There are 9 issues of this (mostly) monthly magazine bound into four volumes. With the exception of one poem in typescript in the December 1893 issue, all of the pieces are in manuscript.

Most of the issues run about 40 pages each with between 9 and 17 contributions (including the frontispieces). The largest issues were those produced in Summer 1894 and Spring 1895, which average about 130 pages and just over 20 contributions apiece (the largest, the Summer 1894 issue, having 27 contributions).

These issues contain mostly prose works with about ten percent of the contributions overall being poems, all of which are in the authors’ own handwriting, with most choosing to sign their own names. There are also a small number of puzzles and games throughout.

While this club was restricted to men, from the editorials, we know that women contributed a few pieces  (a small percentage overall) of artwork to its magazine. The artwork is in a variety of media, but a sizeable percentage of the illustrations are in pencil, which is a bit unusual.

There is one (extant) issue of the magazine that the club produced under its new name, the Literary Twenty-One Club, which clearly carries on the format and style of the previous issues that were produced by the group as the New Literary Club, with several of its old members staying on (see ‘Additional Notes’ below).

Name of Club, Society or Group That Produced the Magazine

The New Literary Club was formed in 1892. In 1896, it became the Literary Twenty-one Club. Even later, it amalgamated with the Holyrood Literary Society and took its name on 24 September 1897. On 3 October 1899, it changed its name to The Holyrood Literary Club, thento  The New Holyrood Literary Club. Later it was simply known as The Holyrood Club. (Glasgow)

Date of Existence

9 September 1892 – 21 April 1896; 21 April 1896 – 24 September 1897 (as Literary Twenty-One Club); on 24 September 1897 it amalgamated with Holyrood Literary Society and took its name

Date of Magazine

January 1893; [February?] 1893; [March?] 1893; October 1893; November 1893; December 1893; January 1894; Summer 1894; Spring 1895

Number of Issues

9 issues in 3 bound volumes

Manuscript/Published Magazine

Manuscript

Contents and Contributions

Annotations; Art/Illustrations (original); Articles (non-fiction); Circulation List; Club notices; Editorials; Epilogue; Essays; Frontispieces; Jokes; Letters to Editor; Maps; Music; Photographs; Poems (original); Poems (republished material); Poem (translation); Prize competition; Puzzles; Readers’ criticisms (unused section); Serial articles/stories; Sketches; Song (original); Table of Contents

Repository

Mitchell Library Special Collections

Reference

(Note: The records for this club are housed together with the records of The Holyrood Club (891047))

Additional Notes

See also entry for New Literary Club on our sister website, Glasgow’s Literary Bonds.

See also The Literary Twenty-One Club Magazine and The Holyrood Magazine.