Christopher Murray Grieve Hugh MacDiarmid

C. M. [Christopher Murray] Grieve [Hugh MacDiarmid, 1892–1978] was a Scottish poet, writer, and cultural activist. Politically, he was both a nationalist, helping to found the National Party of Scotland in 1928, and a communist. During the 1930's, he was expelled from each for his membership in the other. His nationalist leanings were for a time characterized by pre-Reformation Catholic Scotland "as a model of social, spiritual, and national coherence." (Roderick Watson, ODNB ). Grieve founded a series of periodicals: the Scottish Chapbook (fourteen issues), beginning in 1922; the weekly Scottish Nation (thirty-four issues), beginning in 1923; and the monthly Northern Review (1924 for four issues). These periodicals "set about the definition of a literary and cultural ‘renaissance’ in Scottish affairs." (Watson, ODNB ). Grieve moved toward the use of Scots as an exploration of the vernacular, a move also reflected in his adoption of the pseudonym Hugh M'Diarmid.

From the guide to the Christopher Murray Grieve [Hugh MacDiarmid] Ephemera (MS 118), 1926-1940, (University of Colorado at Boulder Libraries. Special Collections Dept.)

C. M. [Christopher Murray] Grieve [Hugh McDiarmid, 1892–1978] was a Scottish poet, writer, and cultural activist. Politically, he was both a nationalist, helping found the National Party of Scotland in 1928, and a communist. He was, during the 1930's, expelled from each group for his membership in the other. His nationalist leanings were for a time characterized by pre-Reformation Catholic Scotland "as a model of social, spiritual, and national coherence." (Roderick Watson, ODNB ). Grieve founded a series of periodicals: the Scottish Chapbook fourteen issues beginning in 1922; the weekly Scottish Nation, thirty-four issues beginning in 1923; and the monthly Northern Review four issues in 1924. These periodicals "set about the definition of a literary and cultural ‘renaissance’ in Scottish affairs." (Watson, ODNB ). Grieve moved toward the use of Scots as an exploration of the vernacular, a move reflected in his adoption of the pseudonym Hugh M'Diarmid.

From the guide to the Christopher Murray Grieve [Hugh MacDiarmid] Collection (MS 33), c. 1927-1965, (University of Colorado at Boulder Libraries. Special Collections Dept.)