IT was a meeting between the greatest poets of the First World War which had entered literary legend even though the exact location was shrouded in mystery
But now a university lecturer believes he has pinpointed the place where Wilfred Owen met with Siegfried Sassoon and Robert Graves, more than a century after the event took place.
Neil McLennan, a former head of history at Tynecastle School who now works as Senior Lecturer at the University of Aberdeen, has spent more than 10 years researching Wilfred Owen’s life.
And after unravelling a series of clues hidden in the archives of an American University, the war poetry enthusiast believes the three men came together at Baberton Golf Club in Juniper Green, on the outskirts of Edinburgh.
Both Owen and Sassoon were patients at Craiglockhart Hospital in Edinburgh, and Owen also taught at the Edinburgh School, and met with Graves when he travelled up from England.
After scouring UK libraries and archives for clues, Mr McLennan found the answer in letters written in 1917 now held in Southern Illinois University, which he learned about through a fortuitous conversation with an American archivist.
Mr McLennan said: “There for all to see is a letter from Siegfried Sassoon to Robert Graves,” he added. “In it, he describes how he has a golf match on the day of Graves’ visit, which unsurprisingly he did not wish to cancel, and he asks Graves to travel to meet him at Juniper Green and Baberton Golf Club specifically.
“Further correspondence indicates that between the letter being sent and Graves arriving it was decided that Owen would be sent to collet Graves and bring him to Baberton Golf Club.
“Owen clearly made an impression on Graves. He had met Graves only this one time however was invited to Graves wedding the following year. Sassoon had already been acting as a somewhat poetic mentor to Owen, however, now another poet recognised his talent and between Graves and Sassoon, Owen is introduced to the good and great before he returns to war service."
“This find means that Baberton Golf Club can now say it held potentially the most powerful meeting of English literature in the 20th century. “
Alan Goodman Baberton Golf Club Captain said: "We were excited to learn that this historic meeting took place in our clubhouse and led to such an important collaboration between three of Britain's greatest war poets. We intend to create a permanent reminder of this meeting for members and visitors to view."
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