As I would hope you know, John, the row over the Gull's Wing poem related to some lines taken from a short story - not the whole thing and moved from one form to another. McDiarmid's defence that it was no more than the result of a photographic memory, and that the transposition/use was therefore unconscious, had its supporters at the time, and given the full referencing of sources in McDiarmid's work - especially the longer poems - the defence seems entirely possible. Furthermore the suggestion that McDiarmid was "a plagiarist" is a nonsensical canard not only given the massive body of his highly original work but it is especially offensive in this thread which has been, quite rightly, focussed on a character who, as they used to say, has clearly lost his entirely. You are, I feel, allowing your grouch about McD to get in the way of your judgement - and others who may not know the wonderful scope and richness of his work do not deserve to be so misled.
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