Hugh MacDiarmid (1892-1978), Poet

Hugh MacDiarmid (Christopher Murray Grieve)

Sitter in 2 portraits
Poet and critic, born Christopher Murray Grieve. A key figure of the 20th century Scottish Renaissance, he was the author of various collections of poems such as Sangschaw (1925) and A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle (1926) which employed Scots dialect as a modern literary language. He was a founder member of the Scottish National Party (1928) and at various times a member of the Communist Party. Much of his poetry is profoundly nationalistic in tone and often written in dialect.