Business Lunch

Dougie MacLean - Melody Maker

Dougie MacLean

Dougie MacLean, a musician with a worldwide fan base, is a true son of Perthshire, running his own record company, Dunkeld Records, and publishing company, Limetree Arts and Music, from his home in Butterstone where he grew up. I first met Dougie and his artist wife Jenny many years ago. I was driving past his home when I saw him sitting in his garden strumming a guitar. Not sure what kind of reception I'd get I stopped by to say hello and spent the next two hours chatting with Dougie about working from home, and our ambitions. A tour of the recording studio later, and with a signed print of one of Jenny's paintings under my arm, I left, inspired. Not long after this, in 1991, my wife Christina and I moved to Perth and set up our own business from home and have never looked back since - inspired by Dougie's love of music and of all things Perthshire. So for this summer edition I was delighted when Dougie agreed to meet me for lunch at the Meikleour Hotel - a wonderful place to relax and put my oh-so-tough questions!

The Meikleour Hotel has been in existence for nearly two centuries serving not only the local community as a pub and focus for community activity, but also welcoming visitors to this famously beautiful part of Perthshire. A mile away the River Isla meets the mighty Tay and close by is the magnificent great Beech Hedge - said to be the tallest in the world. In recent years the hotel has been given a new lease of life under the ownership of Charlie Shentill - a man who's passionate about serving the best possible locally produced foods. This results in a menu which offers such a fine range of food that making a choice is a real gourmet challenge - and the wine list has to be one of the most interesting you'll find anywhere. Charlie is justifiably proud of his ability to track down the finest of wines at affordable prices.

Thus is was that Dougie MacLean, my scribe and I found ourselves selecting our starters while sipping Charlie's choice for us of a Beresford 2003 Shiraz from South Australia's McLaren Vale - a wine of tremendous depth and intensity.

For the first course Dougie chose the potted prawns with lemon and chilli butter, I chose the game terrine with tomato and ginger chutney and my scribe asked for whitebait with garlic aioli. Then it was question time!

I have always had the feeling your family roots in Perthshire are very important to you and your music. Am I right about this?

I live in what was the old Butterstone School - actually the primary school my father and I both attended. My great-grandfather Maclean was a shepherd in Argyllshire - in fact three of my four grandparents were native Gaelic speakers. My grandfather, an itinerant shepherd came to work in the Killin area and then in Kenmore and settled in Perthshire around the 1920s, and there began our connection with the Butterstone area. My father, who was also a shepherd, and his two brothers, Archie and Bob, when they were kids roamed the same hills around Butterstone as I did and as my children have done. It was part of my father's job working on the hills so he knew every neuk and cranny of them. He and my grandfather taught me so much - like fishing on the Butterstone and Cluny lochs. I came to know this bit of Scotland intimately - knolls on hills behind Butterstone that were favourite places, great vantage points to look at the world around.

Kind of secret places that you and your family know and have enjoyed for a long time?

It was great to grow up there. Uncle Archie had 5 children and we all played together. Uncle Bob was a bachelor and we all loved Uncle Bob. He was a kind of surrogate father. He was somebody I could talk to about anything, and he was very much part of my family. In fact when I very little I thought every boy had a mum, dad and uncle Bob. If my advice were ever asked on the matter I would say that every family should have an Uncle Bob!

I was lucky to buy the old school when it came on the market. Everything in my life seems to have grown from there. It came up for sale at a time when nobody was interested in taking on old buildings. When Jenny and I returned to Perthshire I saw its potential for development into a studio as well as a home. But now the recording business is changing so very fast. Take CD sales, for instance. It is so easy now for everyone to make copies of music. Record distributors are going bust left, right and centre. It's certain the CD will disappear just as the vinyl did. The new technologies will see to that. But I do think the government could have stepped in over the copying and downloading and given a bit of protection to people in the industry.

Like the film industry?

In a way. But on the other hand I believe performers should live by bums on seats. I am perfectly happy to perform for the takings at the door rather than depending on public funding. Can I say at this point that these potted prawns are absolutely delicious - a very interesting flavour.

Meikleour Hotel

The combination of the game terrine with the chutney was excellent and my scribe said her whitebait was brilliant -although I have a definite "thing" about eating something with eyes, it didn't seem to worry her one bit. For a main course Dougie selected the seared lamb's liver with potato, bacon and onion, I chose haddock in a beer and spring water batter, and my scribe chose strips of Highland Beef served with mushrooms in a cream sauce.