The youngest of nine children, Nessie was a trained user of a key-driven mechanical calculator, known as a comptometer, and she met Graham when studying, as a mature student, at Newbattle Abbey, Edinburgh.  Through Graham, she became friends with some of the most famous artists and writers in Scotland and in Soho. 

In 1944, she moved with Graham to Cornwall, initially living in a caravan where they became friends with Sven Berlin (September 11^th), Ben Nicholson (February 6^th) and Bryan Wynter (September 8^th).

Initially, the couple relied on Nessie’s earnings from her writing whilst Graham struggled for success however, as Graham became more popular she wrote less and less, believing him to be a better poet.  Her collection of ten poems was published to acclaim in 1988 but when asked for more she apparently stated that there were only ever ten.