Dame Edith Louisa Sitwell DBE was born on 7 September 1887 in Scarborough in the North Riding of Yorkshire. Edith was the oldest child and only daughter of her wildly eccentric and unloving parents. Her father, believing she had a spinal deformation, imposed upon her a 'cure' which involved locking her into an iron frame. In 1913 Edith began to publish her poetry, her first was in the Daily Mirror; The Drowned Suns. Unconventional at best as a person her poems reflect this with her exotic costumes and dramatic style all hung on a six foot frame: many adored her, others thought her a poseur....