Kenneth Buthlay's edition of A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle is widely
considered to be the best edition of all and provides extensive
commentary and notes, taking the reader through MacDiarmid's complex and
often opaque use of language. The drunk man lies on a moonlit hillside
looking at a thistle, jaggy and beautiful, which epitomises Scotland's
divided self. The man reflects on the fate of the nation, the human
condition in general and his own personal fears.