The archive of a “talented” Edinburgh war poet who died in 1917 before seeing his work published is set to be auctioned.
James Alexander Mann, known to all as Hamish, was a schoolboy at George Watson’s College before serving in the Royal Highlanders, Black Watch during the First World War.
An aspiring writer and actor, Mann’s life was cut tragically short during fighting in the Battle of Arras.
He was wounded on April 9 1917, just five days after his 21st birthday, and died the following day.
His extensive archive, which is valued at between £3,000 and £4,000, includes 11 bound notebooks, some of which form the collection Poems 1913-14, Book of Impressions.
It also includes sketches, playscripts, short stories, humorous descriptions of officers, official photographs, and letters to his parents.
The archive was preserved by Mann’s parents and has been handed down through generations of the family.
Cathy Tait, head of rare books and manuscripts at auctioneers Lyon & Turnbull said: “This is a very moving archive penned by a talented writer who never got to see his work published.
“Hamish Mann is now part of the canon of First World War poets he so admired.
“Our forthcoming sale puts a human face on the suffering of war and presents a rare opportunity to own a piece of First World War literary and social history.”
Mann tried to enlist at the outbreak of war in 1914 but was considered unfit to fight due to a heart condition.
He instead took on a voluntary position at Craigleith Military Hospital in Edinburgh, now the site of the Western General Hospital, where he helped establish a magazine called the Craigleith Hospital Chronicle.
He was passed fit for active service the following year when the War Office changed its entry requirements in the face of high numbers of casualties.
Mann’s writing, which charts his training and follows him into the trenches, is sometimes bleak but contains flashes of wit.
This is shown in one passage where he describes the common soldier, often referred to as Tommy Atkins.
“Tommy is in many ways a perverse creature,” Mann wrote.
Hamish Mann died of injuries sustained in war just days after his 21st birthday (Stewart Attwood/PA)
“He always sings and waxes joyful at a time least to be expected.
“For instance, when marching home after a heavy day’s field work in the rain, on ploughed ground and an empty stomach, he will chant all his favourite ditties with great relish and apparent mirth.
“But, on the other hand, when we march out on a beautiful spring morning after a hearty breakfast, when all nature rejoices in the goodness of things, our revered friend Mr Atkins is strangely silent.”
His poetry was collected by his parents and published posthumously as A Subaltern’s Musings in 1918.
One poem, entitled Before, which was written in October 1916 during the Battle of the Somme, contains the lines:
“Let memory and tenderness be mine.
“And may I die more nobly than I live
“(For I have lived in folly and regret):
“Then in the last Great Moment when I pass,
“I shall have paid my Life’s outstanding Debt!”
The archive is due to be sold by Lyon & Turnbull on February 5.