Scottish poet's dying wish to be denied after clerical error

Blossom will by now be hanging over the low gable of the home of the late poet and philosopher Kenneth White in Brittany.

- Vanessa Thorpe

But nothing else about this house, named Gwenved, is certain any more. White’s long-held plan for it to become a residence for artists and writers after his death is in dispute - and the Scottish government is weighing in.

White's fans across France and in his native Scotland are battling to see his wishes followed through. Their opponents are the officials of the French municipality of Trébeurden, who have put the property up for sale following an apparent clerical error and decreed that White’s extensive library must now be cleared out.