As well as writing books, Christopher Murray Grieve, ‘Hugh MacDiarmid’ was a prolific author of essays and articles and was frequently asked to speak on literary or other topics. He was in the habit of re-using parts of his writings on different occasions, so it is not unusual to find substantial identical passages occurring in different works. Due to the fragmentary nature of some of the material, it is not always evident whether a manuscript was intended for publication or for a talk; material in this category has been included in MSS 27056-27065 and 27084.