Ian Hamilton Finlay, 1925-2006, was a Scottish poet. He published his first book of poetry, The Dancers Inherit the Party, in 1960 and went on to publish many more poems both as independent collections and in his magazine Poor. Old. Tired. Horse. (P.O.T.H.), issued by his own Wild Hawthorn Press.

He was most known for his works of concrete poetry, including the sculptures and other works he created for Little Sparta, a garden he established with his wife Sue Finlay, 1943- , in 1966.

Finlay married Sue (formerly MacDonald-Lockhart) in 1965. They had two children together: Alexander (Alec), 1966- , and Aileen, 1967- . Over the course of their marriage, Sue was responsible for planting and tending the gardens of Little Sparta while Finlay designed its sculptures, ponds, and other structures. The couple divorced in 1989.

Helen Burness Cruickshank, 1896-1975, was a poet of Edinburgh, Scotland. She spent her early career working in the Civil Service in London where she developed an interest in women's suffrage and other political movements. In 1912, she moved to Edinburgh, Scotland, and began to write poetry while working in a government office. Upon the death of her father in 1924, Cruickshank moved into her mother's house, known as Dinnieduff. The house served as a meeting place for Scotland's PEN Club and other writers and poets throughout the 1920's and 30's. As a result, Cruickshank developed connections with many members of the Scottish literary scene and inspired the movement known as the "Scottish Literary Renaissance."

Cruickshank's first volume of poetry, Up the Noran Water, was published in 1934, and she continued to write and publish poetry until her death in 1975. Her poetry, often written in the Scots dialect, centered on country life and the natural beauty of the Scottish hills.