From The Literary World: Review of The Evergreen,
Vol. 1-4

A new movement has sprung up in Scot-
land. Its promoters, as is well for a rena-
scence, are young men and women, mostly
artists and students, who are wide awake
to the deep, uncontrollable tides of life,
and have not yet met and been conquered
by the ignorance and brutality of the world.
They are willing to experiment and willing,
we suppose, to fail, though they say nothing
of that, if a higher standard is maintained
because of them.

The Evergreen is their first organized
output. It has been issued in four numbers,
the spring and autumn numbers appearing
in 1895, the summer and winter numbers
in 1896. They are all handsomely bound
in roughly embossed leather, beautifully
printed, and acceptably decorated, though
the art, it is safe to say, falls short of the
literature.

The “Winter Book” is divided into four
sections: Winter in Nature, in Life, in the
World, in the North. A gradual advance-
ment, you see, from the general to the
particular, from the external, spectacular
winter to their own particular, personal,
Celtic-renascent winter. So far it is what
one would expect. The value of this move-
ment is in its motors, however, for each
article is not only carefully considered and
executed, but has more or less real literary
flavor of its very own. Probably it is be-
cause there have been no editorial restric-
tions. Author and artist are allowed to
“gang their ain gait.” What unity there
is — and not only the subject-matter, but
the treatment, is surprisingly uniform — is
accounted for only by the fact that a certain
undercurrent of thought, either too intangi-
ble or too precious for direct expression,
has drifted these souls together and bidden
them write and draw.

The Seasonal would be unique and val-
uable even, without the work of Fiona Macleod.
But with her verses and a story
from her pen the strength and charm are
much increased, and also, we should say,
the saleability, for she is a remarkable
writer, destined, alas! for popularity.

Very likely they are dreamers: the weird
mysticism of the Celt is cherished to the
very last degree: beyond doubt they are
impractical; yet, with it all, they have made
a noteworthy book of this, the closing num-
ber. Moreover, they give definite promise
of the future, as the final sentence in the
series proclaims:

The “Evergreen” sleeps for a season, and
the “Interpreter” from his different outlook
will have his say for a time.

All hail the “Interpreter!” May it merit
the success it will achieve!

*The Evergreen. Edinburgh: Patrick Geddes & Colleagues. $2.00.