Hugh MacDiarmid - No Fellow Travellers (clip)

This documentary was made to commemorate the 80th birthday of Scottish poet, Hugh MacDiarmid (1892 - 1978).
This extract includes shots of archive footage and stills - shipyards, demonstrations - with a voice-over of MacDiarmid reciting "The Drunk Man Looks At The Thistle" regarded as one of the most important long poems of the 20th Century. A voice-over follows with a list of poems including Sangschaw (1925), Penny Wheep (1926), A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle (1926), To Circumjack Cencrastus (1930), First Hymn to Lenin (1931), Scots Unbound (1932) and mentions MacDiarmud's prolific essay writing, speeches, articles and letters. The founding of the Scots Renaissance Movement is mentioned together with MacDiarmid's divorce, marriage to second wife Valda and relocation to Shetland. Shots of MacDiarmid and his wife Valda walking their dog up a country lane with voice-over from Valda discussing their life together. She describes MacDiarmid as a 'bastard' when he is writing but recognises this as necessary and tells the story of mouse-droppings in the porridge! MacDiarmid recites another of his Scottish poems. Extract contains one swear word.