Nan Shepherd 
In the Cairngorms 

First published in 1934, In The Cairngorms is Nan Shepherd’s only book of poems. It took her twenty-five years to write these forty-six poems. Each is possessed of a fierce intensity; together, they offer glimpses into what she once called the burning heart of life‘. Shepherd’s lifelong acquaintance with the Scottish mountains was a spiritual as well as a geographical exploration: in the Cairngorms she discovered both elemental beauty and profound metaphysical mystery. Her huge gifts as a poet were to convey these discoveries in language that remains strange and thrilling.‘