Alexander Reid was born on 19 August 1914 in
Edinburgh, and educated at
George Heriot's School. From 1929 to 1936 he worked as a journalist for the
Edinburgh Evening News, before writing on Scottish history and literature for the
SMT Magazine. In 1938, he contributed an article on the
General Post Office Pavilion at the
Empire Exhibition in
Glasgow to the
Scottish Field. A conscientious objector during
World War II, he worked as a bookseller and accountant before becoming a full-time writer and broadcaster in 1948. His first play,
World Without End (1946), was a contemporary piece about nuclear holocaust, but he is now best remembered for his period plays in
Scots. ''The Lass wi' the Muckle Mou'' was first performed at the
Glasgow Citizens' Theatre in November 1950. It was adapted as a television drama, first broadcast by the BBC on Tuesday 6 October 1953, and was staged again by Edinburgh's
Gateway Theatre Company during its 1954-55 season. ''The Warld's Wonder'' was produced at the Gateway in the autumn of 1958. Reid's short stories include
The Kitten and
A Warm Golden Brown. Reid edited the
Saltire Society's quarterly
Saltire Review from 1954 until 1960. He died in Edinburgh on 1 July 1982. ==Published works==