 Firstly, his role models (including Vachel Lindsay) became more modern; secondly, he discovered in Chinese poetry a voice which was "quiet and undemonstrative but clear and direct", and which answered a part of Hewitt's temperament which had been suppressed.Finally, and most importantly, he began his lifelong work of excavation and discovery of the poetry of Ulster, starting with Richard Rowley, Joseph Campbell and George William Russell (AE).This research culminated, in part, with the publications of "Fibres, Fabric and Cordage" in 1948, "Rhyming Weavers and other Country Poets of Antrim and Down" (based on his MA thesis, "Ulster Poets 1800–1870" of 1951) in 1974, and a book called "The Rhyming Weavers" in 1979.