TODAY marks the birthday of Christopher Murray Grieve, better known to most as Hugh MacDiarmid, one of the most important poets in Scottish history. Hugh MacDiarmid pictured on the cover of Agenda magazine in 1966. After the success of this work, MacDiarmid spent a few years in England, where he worked for the magazine Vox, owned by his contemporary Compton MacKenzie. MacDiarmid moved back to the mainland in 1942 and stayed in Glasgow, before settling in his final home in Biggar, Lanarkshire. Hugh MacDiarmid died in 1978 at the age of 86, leaving behind a complex legacy and a vast body of work that continues to influence literature to this day.