Margaret Caroline Tait was a Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 film maker and poet

Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

.

Life

Tait was born and raised in Kirkwall

Kirkwall

Kirkwall is the biggest town and capital of Orkney, off the coast of northern mainland Scotland. The town is first mentioned in Orkneyinga saga in the year 1046 when it is recorded as the residence of Rögnvald Brusason the Earl of Orkney, who was killed by his uncle Thorfinn the Mighty...

 on Orkney, an island off the coast of Scotland.

Tait died in Kirkwall in 1999.

Training and career

Tait attended the University of Edinburgh

University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...

, gaining qualifications in Medicine (1941). She later moved to Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

, where she studied filmmaking at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia

Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia

The Centro sperimentale di cinematografia was established in 1935 in Italy and aims to promote the art and technique of cinematography and film....

 (1950-1952).

After studying in Italy, Tait returned to Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 and founded Ancona Films. On her move back to Orkney in the 1960s Tait continued to make films and took inspiration from the landscape and culture of Orkney.

Tait made 32 short films and one full-length feature, Blue Black Permanent. In addition, Tait wrote prose

Prose

Prose is the most typical form of written language, applying ordinary grammatical structure and natural flow of speech rather than rhythmic structure...

 and poetry

Poetry

Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...

, and published 3 poetry books - 'Hen and Bees', 'Subjects and Sequences' and 'Origins and Elements'.

Filmography

• One Is One (1951)
• Three Portrait Sketches (1951)
• The Lion, The Griffin And The Kangaroo (1952)
• Happy Bees (1955)
• Orquil Burn (1955)
• Portrait Of Ga (1955)
• The Leaden Echo And The Golden Echo (1955)
• Calypso (1956)
• The Drift Back (1956)
• Rose Street (1956)
• Where I Am Is Here (1964)
• Palindrome (1964)
• Hugh Macdiarmid : A Portrait (1964)
• The Big Sheep (1966)
• Splashing (1966)
• A Pleasant Place (1969)
• He's Back (The Return) (1970)
• John MacFadyen (The Stripes In The Tartan) (1970)
• Painted Eightsome (1970)
• On The Mountain (1974)
• Colour Poems (1974)
• Aerial (1974)
• These Walls (1974)
• Tailpiece (1976)
• Place Of Work (1976)
• Aspects Of Kirkwall : Shape Of A Town (1977)
• Aspects Of Kirkwall : Occasions (1977)
• Aspects Of Kirkwall : The Ba, Over The Years (1981)
• Aspects Of Kirkwall : The Look Of The Place (1981)
• Aspects Of Kirkwall : Some Changes (1981)
• Landmakar (1981)
• Blue Black Permanent (1992) (Feature)
• Garden Pieces (1998)

External links

• National Library of Scotland: Scottish Screen Archive (Biography of Margaret Tait with links to film details and clips)