In the summer of 1933 a man called Christopher Murray Grieve came to live in Whalsay. Originally from the Scottish borders, he had lived in various parts of Scotland and England but had no connection to Shetland. Christopher came to be called ‘Aald Grieves’ by his neighbours, but he is better known to the world by his nom de plume Hugh MacDiarmid, one of the most revered and controversial poets Scotland has ever produced.
