Wilson’s Tales of the Borders and of Scotland: Historical, Traditionary and Imaginative

We are celebrating Berwick-upon-Tweed’s forgotten literary hero, John Mackay Wilson, with a series of six short plays based on his writings. The Borders Pub Theatre Company will bring his prose to life in a newly commissioned dramatic presentation based on tales first published in Berwick in 1834. Wilson’s tales of the Scottish Borders were best sellers in their day and the regency Picture Gallery at Paxton House will provide the perfect theatre for the plays. For this highly entertaining evening, Paxton House are collaborating with  The Wilson Tales Project which is also running a literary competition this year for new writers. We are also collaborating to present an educational event at Paxton House celebrating the creativity of tale writing and John Mackay Wilson.

“Wilson at Play”

The Diver & The Bell – adapted by Robert Sproul-Cran
The Overcoat – adapted by John McEwan
Gypsy Soul – adapted by Emily Larner
The Thriftless Heir– adapted by Clare Watson
The Curse of Scotland – adapted by Campbell Hutcheson
The Faa’s Revenge – adapted by Anita John

Tickets: £12. Book here

John Mackay Wilson was born in Tweedmouth in 1804 and started working at William Lochhead, printers of High Street, Berwick-upon-Tweed at the age of 11.  He published his first poem at 15 and left Berwick to pursue a literary career in London, Edinburgh and Manchester before returning to Berwick in 1832 as editor of The Berwick Advertiser. Throughout this period he published various plays and poems but only found success with Wilson’s Tales of the Borders and of Scotland a year before before his death in 1835. Weekly instalments of The Tales continued to be published after his death for a further 5 years by his widow, Sarah.

Details of the writing competition and The Wilson Tales Project