Linda Harnett
Poet Linda Harnett has been writing prolifically for over six years, combining her musings with her love of music and art. In the main she writes of love and life and finds her inspiration from those she meets on her journey through this sometimes turbulent life.
Always on the look out for innovative music to accompany her poetry, she came across the mesmerising and captivating album ‘The Arran Suite’ by Ed Walker. Linda contacted Ed and asked for permission to feature his work on her poetry sites which he very kindly agreed to.
In the course of conversation with Ed she was introduced to the music he composed in tribute to Captain Betsy Miller, and never having heard of Betsy, became intrigued by this fascinating woman who ruled the waves all those years ago. Linda was appalled to discover that despite Betsy Miller being known the world over in her time, very few people in her native Scotland were aware of her existence.
During one conversation with Ed, he commented that maybe she could write a poem for Betsy which was a real challenge because of the limited information available on her.However, she did manage a reasonable effort by pulling the basic factual information together and wrote the first poem which Ed published on the Betsy Miller My Space site.
In the weeks that followed Linda became more and more absorbed in trying to discover more about the life and times of Betsy and the more information gathered, led to more poetry about her.
Both Linda and Ed felt strongly that the story of Captain Betsy should be told and combining Ed’s music together with poetry depicting Betsy’s life could perhaps bring her name to the attention of the world at large. Linda found the Betsy poems a real challenge as she needed to bring Betsy’s character to life and the poetry had to be written in a way that would be acceptable and enjoyed by all ages.
There began the ‘Quest’ which culminated in the release of The Betsy Miller album on 31stMarch, 2008.It was also the catalyst for ‘The Betsy Miller Project’ which resulted in media coverage and interest from both local government and the office of the Minister for Culture in the Scottish Parliament.
Linda and Ed are now firmly committed to their ‘mission’, to keep the memory of Betsy Miller alive and to have her name elevated to its rightful place in Scottish history.
To read more of Linda’s poetry please visit :
www.poetrypoem.com/healinghands and www.poetrypoem.com/mistyveil
You can also visit her on her My Space site: