The Poems of Robert Dinsmoor: The ’Rustic Bard’ of New Hampshire

Robert Dinsmoor’s poetry is perhaps the greatest achievement of Scotch-Irish writing in the nineteenth century. His work frames a vibrant culture whose ties of faith, family and friendship criss-crossed the Atlantic.

He records people, places and events with humour and compassion, and was rightfully accorded the status of the ’Rustic Bard’ of New Hampshire. The recovery of his work is important. It underlines the power of art to find pathways between the Old and New Worlds; and how awareness of Scottish literature and traditions could be celebrated and extended in North America.

Dinsmoor’s writing encapsulates the hopes and aspirations of migrants asserting their place within a confident, awakening nation and stands as a pioneering articulation of postcolonial American literature.

The reissue of this book on the poetry of a man called by some the Robert Burns of New Hampshire includes an Afterword by Alister McReynolds.