"An old man called McKay" at Carnlough is mentioned in a letter of 1940 written to Sam Henry by Sam Knox who lived near Slemish mountain in Co Antrim. This old man had written a song about the first tennis court in Carnlough. It seems likely that all these McKay/McKies are the same person. If he was "old" in 1940 - at least 70 - he would have been in his forties in 1913. That's at least plausible.

Whoever wrote Sweet Carnloch Bay had some local knowledge because Pat Hamill's Pub is still pointed out though that is not now its name.