'And now for a recitation!' Does the call strike you with dread? Do you have a poem almost off by heart, but always get stuck at the second verse? Or do you just have a vague memory of poems and songs you knew at school, or that your friends or relations used to declaim at the drop of a hat?

Scots have ample opportunity to let rip with old favourites on Burns Night, St Andrew's Day, or at ceilidhs and festivals. And we are re-discovering the advantages of recitation: the self-confidence that derives from language awareness and mastery, the ability to recite a ballad in a telling way, through well placed emphases and tonal variation. Here are many popular Scottish poems to help you develop these skills, including 'The Wee Kirkcudbright Centipede', 'The Skye Boat Song', 'Kelvin Grove' and 'John Anderson My Jo'; as well as poetry by more recent writers such as Sheena Blackhall, Norman MacCaig, Jimmy Copeland and Hamish Henderson.

Whatever your choice, this wide-ranging selection will give you and your audience (even if it's only your mirror) hours of pleasure and enjoyment.