Desert Island Discs. 1

This weekend sees the 70th anniversary of the iconic radio programme Desert Island Discs, you know the one, invented by Roy Plomley in 1942.

Having been a lifelong fan I've decided to do my own version over the next 10 days. A record and a bit of chat for the next 8 days, then a book and finally a luxury item.
I have to say selecting the discs has been much harder than I expected, and if I were to do it again next week I'd probably change some. But the decisions have been made and the writing has been done.


Disc 1 The Skye Boat Song

When I worked with the families of little babies and children with very special additional needs, we would talk at length about early communication, and the security a parent's voice gives to every child. What always surprised me was how few adults had memories of their parents singing to them.

My childhood was not full of affection, but I have vivid memories of my mother holding me tight to her and singing this song so I could hear is resonating through her chest, when I couldn't sleep due to a bad dream.

When I was older she would tell me about my Scottish grandparents and ancestors and tell me that she'd learnt the Skye Boat Song from her own mother, who had learnt it from her mother.

This song serves up childhood memories in spades, of home and primary school. But it has come back into my life just recently.
When I was first on my own, a colleague Jim, from Glasgow, invited me to stay to play golf. Knowing him to be a married man, and never having met his wife I declined. Twice more he invited me, and I said 'no'. Finally he said 'If you don't come to stay I will never speak to you again.'

So I made the long journey to Scotland to stay with Jim and his wife Cindy. She was as nervous about meeting me as I was in meeting her.

Jim, immediately said come on we're going to the bar for a drink. It was Friday evening and all his chums were there when we walked in.
One by one the chums asked Cindy 'Who's your friend?'
Cindy replied frostily to a number of them. 'She's no friend of mine, she's a friend of Jim's.'
'Oh, right'
'Yes he met her on the internet, she's from Lithuania.'
'Really?'
'Yes, she just turned up on our doorstep this evening.'

Needless to stay Cindy and I have been great friends ever since, and I have been to stay with them on several occasions, using their lovely home as a springboard for exploring Scotland.

The photo is of a Bombay (Should that be Mumbai now?) Sapphire gin bottle, the colour of which reminds me of the sea and skies of the Hebrides, that I have only recently discovered. It contains a collection of seashells and white sand and a piece of heather gathered from a special beach on the West Coast of Scotland.