Give a brief life-sketch of Robert Lynd.

Ans.

His Birth and Parentage

Robert Lynd who was an accomplished Irish and political essayist, was born in Belfast on 20th April, 1879. He was the son of Robert John and Sarah Rentoul Lynd. His father was a Presbyterian minister and descendant of a line of ministers, and there were also divines on his mother’s side. According to Desmond MacCarthy, his life long friend and fellow journalist, there was a family tradition that Lynd’s great grandfather emigrated from Scotland to Ireland because his congregation objected to the lavish display of silver buckle on his shoes. Lynd’s father’s family also famed, and some of Lynd’s more personal essays refer to boyhood days on the farm tending the livestock. Given his Ulster-Presbyterian origins, Lynd’s avowed, life long Irish nationalism indicates independence of mind. He was a supporter and apologist for the Sinn Fein movement, abhorrent to many Ulster Protestants, and also declared himself a socialist.

His Education and Career

He was educated in Belfast at Queen’s University. He began his career as a journalist on The Northern Whig in Belfast. He moved to London 1901, via Manchester, sharing accommodation with his friend, the artist Paul Henry. Firstly he wrote drama criticism, for Today, edited by Jerome K. Jerome. He also wrote for the Daily News. He settled in Hampstead. in Keats Grove next to the John Keats house. The Lynds were well known as literary hosts, in the group including J. B. Priestley. They were on good terms also with Hugh Walpole; Priestley, Walpole and Sylvia Lynd were founding committee members of the Book Society. Irish guests included James Joyce and James Stephens. On one occasion reported by Victor Gollancz, Joyce intoned Anna Livia Plurabelle to his own piano accompaniment.

He used the pseuodym Y.Y. (Ys, or wise you see) in writing for the New Statesman. According to C. H. Rolph’s Kingsley (1973), Lynd’s weekly essay, which ran from 1913 to 1945, was irreplaceable. In 1941 editor Kingsley Martin decided to alternate it with pieces by James Bridie on Ireland, but the experiment was not at all a success.

Activism

He became a fluent Irish speaker, and Gaelic League member. As a Sinn Fein activist, he used the name Robiard O Flionn/Roibeard Ua Flionn. He wrote for The Repulic in its early days. He spoke at the funeral in 1916 of Irish Republican and Marxist James Connolly, whose works Labour in Ireland. Labour in Irish History and The Re-Conquest of Ireland he subsequently edited. He was also a loyal friend of Roger Casement.

His Marriage, Family and Death

He married the writer Sylvia Dryhurst, whom he met at Gaelic League meetings in London, in 1909. Their daughters Maire and Single became close friends of Isaiah Berlin. Sigle’s son, born in 1941, the artist Tim Wheeler.

Lynd died in 1949 and was buried in Belfast City Cemetery.

Chief Works

1. Irish and English (1908), 2. Home Life in Ireland (1909), 3. Rambler in Ireland (1912). 4. The Book of This and That (1915). 5. If the Germans Conquered England (1917), 6. Old and New Masters (1919), 7. Ireland a Nation (1919), 8. The Art of Letters (1920), 9. The Passion of Labour (1920). 10. Pleasures of Ignorance (1921), 11. Solomon in All His Glory (1922). 12. The Sporting Life and Other Triffles (1922), 13. Books and Authors (1922), 14. The Blue Lion (1923), 15. Selected Essays (1923), 16. The Peal of Bells (1924), 17. The Money Box (1925). 18. The Orange Tree (1926), 19. The Little Angel (1926), 20. Dr. Johnson and Company (1927), 21. The Goldfish (1927), 22. The Silver Books of English Sonnets (1927), 23. The Green Man (1928), 24. It’s a Fine World (1930), and “Y. Y.” An Anthology of Essays (1933).