>>Scowie is a brilliant wordsmith

... and a really nice guy as well.

I first heard this song some years back at the Black Bull Bender on the North York moors and asked the singer what it was called as I thought it was wonderful. He told me and then said 'the bloke who wrote it is sitting up there'.

I went up and had a chat to him and complimented him on his song and asked him if he could email me the words. This was a bit of a problem as he didn't do emails but I gave him my address and thought no more about it.

Some days later I received a letter with the words and a cassette of a performance from Australia (from memory) which was really kind.

At the time I had never sung anything in public but I decided that if someone could take the trouble to do what he did the least I could do was to learn and sing the song. So - for good or bad - he also started me singing :)