My elder son David was born in 1980, and climbed Dumyat in the Ochil Hills with me at the age of four. We did a few other hills together, but he has indeed "flown", and found other interests. The song was inspired by his initial ascent, and a photo of him sitting on the trig point. He liked the song at the time, but as a teenager he naturally got a bit embarrassed about it (which itself led to another song!).
Ian Walker identified with the song, as he had children of his own whom he was introducing to the hills; and recorded a very good arrangement of it on his second album, "Shadows in Time". Ian was at the time very much in the ascendancy on the folk music scene, and guested regularly at Stirling and other clubs, performing many of his own songs, some of which quickly became standards. We even found ourselves on the same bill once, when we both appeared at Armadale Social Club (after the bingo). |
