Prayers of the Western Highlanders: A New Collection

Each day, O God, give gladness with thy dawn, Each day, O God, to wonted tasks we rise, Each day, O God, we kneel to thee, new-born, The little lovely Christ who grace supplies. The poetry of the Western Highlands of Scotland has its origins in the very earliest days of Celtic Christianity, and is imbued with profound religious experience and feeling. The prayers in this volume, many of which will resonate strongly with contemporary Christians, are translations of traditional Gaelic poems, and have never before appeared in print. They form a fine addition to G. R. D. McLean's authoritative work, Poems of the Western Highlanders, which was first published in 1961, and subsequently reissued (in whole or part) as Praying with Highland Christians (1988), Praying with Celtic Christians (1988, 1996) and Celtic Spiritual Verse (2002), all Triangle/SPCK. 'Prayers of the Western Highlanders deserves to be read and enjoyed by as many people as possible. Its wealth of prayer – rooted in the petitions of those who are at home with God and welcome him into every area of their lives – will be of much value to those of us seeking to develop a prayer life of our own. Here we encounter the encircling love of God as we dwell in him and he in us. This is treasure indeed.' David Adam from the Foreword