I think Hugh MacDiarmid was the greatest Scot of the twentieth - TopicsExpress

I think Hugh MacDiarmid was the greatest Scot of the twentieth century. Not the best, not the wisest, not the most astute - just the greatest. He was great because his poetry expressed what it means to be Scottish and what Scotland means. He wrote in wonderful rich language, using the dialects of Scotland and the characteristic ways of expressing ourselves as a Scots. He confronted us with the danger of our culture and sense of ourselves being smothered by the huge wealth, weight and power of our nearest neighbour. He told us that our languages and cultures are not an inferior expression of English, but of immense European and world significance. He was irascible and prone to make judgments on too little evidence, but about Scottishness he was right and he left us a legacy of powerful and beautiful poetry. Now I find that it is taken for granted that he was a fascist, on the basis of extremely scant and questionable evidence - and that we should be ashamed of him and ignore his poetry. I refuse to do that and I will defend him, even when my attempts are ignored or misrepresented. Is there anyone who will take a stand? Anyone who will step forward and say with me, damn your libels, Hugh MacDiarmid was a great Scot and a great human being!