In the late 1990s, I was taken by a friend to visit the writer-in-residence at Brownsbank Cottage, near Biggar. A former farmworker’s but’n’ben, this was where Hugh MacDiarmid and his wife Valda Trevlyn lived from 1951 until the poet’s death in 1978, and Valda’s 11 years later. Surrounded by trees, and overlooking hills that stretched to the horizon, it might have been mistaken for a rural idyll. Yet although it was sunny when I visited, it wasn’t hard to imagine that in the depths of winter, when MacDiarmid was often snowed in, it might not be the most comfortable or practical of locations.

Indoors it was like the 1930s, the furnishings and amenities coming from a bygone age. That’s hardly surprising, since the couple were almost penniless when they were offered the place, rent-free. For the first few years, it was beyond basic; not until the 1960s were indoor plumbing and electricity installed. The living room, however, with its coal fire, horse brasses and ramshackle bookcases was homely. It was a privilege to be in the house, sitting on the very chairs, where MacDiarmid and Valda had spent their days.

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To see where and how the most influential literary figure of 20th century Scotland lived opened a keyhole into his mind, not to mention offering a glimpse of the near penury in which he existed. I remember the three of us huddling close to the fire, conversation turning to the night-time antics of fieldmice, and how bitterly cold the place became once the fire died down.

A number of writers have lived here as part of a Brownsbank Fellowship, among them the novelist James Robertson, short story writer Linda Cracknell, and poets Gerry Cambridge, Matthew Fitt and Tom Bryan. All were grateful........

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