Famous Scots and the music that makes them think of home

WHAT piece of music makes you think of Scotland? It could be something that evokes a particular place, or the entire country. It could be a song commemorating an unforgettable event in your own life, or one capturing a moment in our history or one of the nation's larger-than-life characters, real or imaginary.

On Saturday as part of Let's Get Lyrical – the month-long programme created and run by Unesco Edinburgh City of Literature and Glasgow UNESCO City of Music - the capital will stage a performance of composer Edward Harper's Voice of a City concert. This affectionate portrait of Edinburgh includes lyrics by Ron Butlin, Edinburgh's Makar. The piece features references to Edinburgh celebrities, such as Sean Connery, the One o'Clock Gun, John Knox and Jean Brodie.

About the challenge, Harper once wrote: "Of all the commissions I have received, (this] was in many ways the most challenging. To design a half-hour piece using primary school choirs, an adult community choir, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and organ required a great deal of thought."

Today, The Scotsman opens the question up to include all of Scotland and asks notable individuals: "What song or piece of music says 'Scotland' to you?"

Among the voices we solicited, the name Robert Burns came up more than once, but the range of answers – and reasons – goes much further than the Bard and includes everything from Mendelssohn to Big Country.

Let's Get Lyrical is a celebration of song and lyrics which runs throughout February. It follows the success of previous initiatives promoting the work of Robert Louis Stevenson and last year's "Carry a Poem" scheme, involving more than 32 events held across Edinburgh.

Organisers hope the 50,000 initiative will raise the profile of lesser-known musicians and writers, generate new interest in long-forgotten songs, and encourage school pupils to develop an interest in song-writing.

Though he's mainly identified with Scotland, Edward Harper (1941-2009) grew up and was educated in England, adopting Edinburgh after joining the music staff of Edinburgh University in 1964. His own undergraduate career saw him earn a first in music from Oxford, before attending the Royal College of Music in London.

Harper is also remembered as the founder and conductor of the New Music Group of Scotland (NMGS), which enjoyed great renown. When he died, his obituary said: "He helped establish Edinburgh's credentials as a vibrant centre of new music that was forward-looking and international in outlook." The NMGS appeared regularly at the Edinburgh Festival, and provided a place where young composers could be heard.

• The Voice of a City concert is on Saturday at 3pm (tickets 10/5), at Edinburgh's Usher Hall.

Click Next Page for our famous Scots' choices Andy Robinson, head rugby coach for Scotland

Caledonia, by Dougie MacLean, and Highland Cathedral, by Ulrich Roever and Michael Korb

"The song that epitomises Scotland for me is Caledonia, composed by Dougie MacLean. The words are poignant and emotional and sum up the passion I've always associated with the Scotland rugby team. It's become a firm favourite with my family. We all like singing along to it, and that's a pretty good test of a decent song. I heard Dougie sing it at the tribute evening we had at Murrayfield for the late Bill McLaren last March and that was a special and very moving rendition.

The other piece of music that I enjoy in a rugby context is Highland Cathedral (composed by Ulrich Roever and Michael Korb]. We use it to signal the arrival of the Scotland team running out from the tunnel at Murrayfield. It's stirring stuff and perfectly captures the emotion of the occasion. For the players it's a fantastic experience, especially when the first few bars are delivered by the lone piper on the roof of the east stand."

Alexander McCall Smith, author

51st (Highland) Division Farewell to Sicily, by Hamish Henderson

"A song which I very much like and which has always been very evocative of Scotland for me is Hamish Henderson's 51st (Highland) Division's Farewell to Sicily. I heard him sing it on two occasions many years ago – and it was a very moving experience. Henderson was a great exponent of the Scottish folk tradition, but he was also an advocate of a noble form of internationalism that goes back to Robert Burns. This song speaks to a great moment in Scottish history when Scottish servicemen and women lined up in the defence of freedom. It is poignant and humane and quintessentially Scottish. Few people will be unmoved by it."

Richard Honner, Resident Conductor and Head of Music for Scottish Ballet

Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 3

"About 20 years ago, Scottish Ballet performed Scotch Symphony, choreographed by Balanchine. The music is by Felix Mendelssohn, his third symphony. On the whole, he was quite a classical composer, but with romantic streaks. He visited Scotland a number of times and this symphony captures the mood of Scotland, and the landscape, particularly the first movement. It is like one of those misty mornings when I look out of my sitting room in Stirling, out onto the Ochils, and the Forth valley is full of mist and you can hardly see across it. Whenever I hear the third symphony, I have that picture in my mind. The second movement is a Scottish dance, and gets the sense almost of a ceilidh – it's evocative of the sort of music Scots dance to."

Ian Rankin, author

In A Big Country, by Big Country

"I'm from the same part of Fife as songwriter Stuart Adamson. I like to imagine that he is singing about Scotland as a country of big ambitions, a country that punches above its weight. Small enough geographically, perhaps, but international in outlook, self-confident, and a place you are proud to call 'home', wherever you are in the world."James Robertson, author

Happed in Mist, by Michael Marra

"Whenever I hear the opening bars of Michael Marra's song Happed in Mist I feel myself welling up. It's a heart-rending interpetation of the scene near the end of Lewis Grassic Gibbon's novel Sunset Song, when Ewan Tavendale is shot for desertion in the First World War after trying to get home to his beloved wife, Chris. In the brief, aching two minutes Marra takes to rework Gibbon's words my mind instantly flies back to the first time I read the novel 30 years ago, and is flooded with images of Scottish farmland, hills and woods, just as Ewan's must have been at that moment before death. 'And in his eyes flew snipe and curlew, and in his nose blew moistened air…' Wonderful."

Craig Hill, comic

Wild Mountainside, by John Richard Douglas

n"I feel very passionate about Wild Mountainside. I adore it. It's from Eddi Reader's album of the songs of Robert Burns. It's actually the only song on the album that Burns didn't write, and there's a very romantic story behind it: her partner wrote the song to beckon her back to Scotland after years of living in London. This year I went to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur to do Burns nights and I sang this to all the expats. It was moving, and some of them were tearful. Most hadn't heard the song before and they said it really summed up the beauty of Scotland for them. A friend asked me to sing it at a New Year's party, and I turned into John Travolta – I got chills, they were multiplying. It really was electrifying. I think when you sing a song you love, that comes across in your voice."

Laura McGhee, musician

Loch Lomond, made popular by Matt McGinn

n"I immediately thought of Loch Lomond. The melody and sentiment of the song are so strong and I particularly enjoy the Jacobite lyrics of the song made popular by Matt McGinn. I like the poetry in this version and I think the characters in the story come to life. Also, it is more unique to Scotland, as it is about a couple living through the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion. He is one of Prince Charlie's followers and she is coming to see him for the last time before he is executed. The twist really comes when she says she wants to die before him. It's very sad, but very romantic, and I think it speaks volumes about our culture and history."

Michelle Mone, Scottish entrepreneur and creator of Ultimo

Looking for Linda, by HuE & Cry

"Every time I hear Hue & Cry I think of Scotland. Most of their songs were released when I was at school and bring back fond memories of my youth in Glasgow during the late 1980s and early 90s. When I hear Looking for Linda it always reminds me of how rich and lively the Scottish music scene was around that time, with the likes of Wet Wet Wet, Simple Minds and Deacon Blue."

Belinda Dickson, CEO of Belinda Robertson Retail & BJD Design

Skye Boat Song, as sung by Hollie Smith

I love all the songs on Hollie's CD, which is a modern take on Scottish music. The Skye Boat Song is a great version of an old favourite. Every year we take to the road to Harris, following the route through Skye. I love the drive, especially accompanied by this perfect music. It is breathtaking. Nowhere in the world compares with the basic beauty of the Outer Hebrides."

Dr John Lowrie Morrison OBE

The Hebrides overture, by Felix Mendelssohn and Ae Fond Kiss by Robert Burns

"The Hebrides Overture is my most favourite piece of 'Scottish' music , in that it is the most evocative. Also known as Fingal's Cave, the first few bars conjure up Scotland immediately. Maureen and I have tried three times since 1971 to see Fingal's Cave, but each time because of storm, we have either not got as far as Staffa or it was too stormy to venture into the cave. However, we now have a house and studio on Mull and the Isle of Staffa lies directly in front of the property , so, of course, we see Staffa constantly. What comes into my head each time I look out to the Atlantic? Those first few bars conjure up Scotland for me.

"I was taught Burns from a very young age, and still carry a tiny Tartan-bound book of Burns' poetry in my studio jacket. I now consider Burns' poetry to be the most evocative of Scottish poetry, especially in evocation of the Scottish landscape. "

Barbara Dickson, singer

The Royal Mile, by Gerry Rafferty

"I sing a lot of Scottish music and I have songs which remind me of particular places in Scotland, but a favourite about Edinburgh is The Royal Mile by the late Gerry Rafferty. I've always had an affection for it. I also remember living in Edinburgh and Gerry being there in the city playing with Billy Connolly. This song always reminds me of Auld Reekie, a city I love and, of course, Gerry Rafferty, who wrote so many wonderful songs and was from Paisley. He really evokes the spirit of the Old Town and Waverley Station."

Val McDermid, author

Letter From America, by the Proclaimers

"I would choose Letter from America, by The Proclaimers. As someone who's lived most of her adult life outside Scotland, and felt as if I was in exile, it's very much an exile song, about the Scottish diaspora, and how we go around the world, making it our own. We go off to far-flung places and do amazing things. Disraeli said something like, 'In any successful enterprise, you'll find a Scotsman near the top of the greasy pole,' and there's a line in Letter from America, 'Do we have to roam the world to prove how much it hurts.'

The song namechecks places so dear to me, and compares the destruction of the Highlands, in the 18th century, with the destruction of the post-industrialist landscape at the end of the 20th century. I spent a lot of my childhood near Methil, in Fife. It's not the prettiest place, but it was where heavy industry was an important part of the fabric of people's lives. The song also name- checks Sutherland, which is dear because of the extraordinary poetry of Norman McCaig, which was probably the first writing about landscape that actually touched me as a reader and also as a writer. It's a song of great emotional power, and it plugs into the history of our culture.

It seems to pull together a lot of what I understand about the history of Scotland, and it always touches me and makes me want to go back home."

Jim Gellatly, DJ and Scottish radio presenter on Radio Magnetic, Radio Six International and Pulse 98.4

Cap In Hand, by The Proclaimers

"I was a fairly early fan of the Reid brothers' music, first turned on to them by Peter Easton on his legendary Rock On Scotland show on BBC Radio Scotland. He'd been playing demo tracks, including Letter From America, and I'd go into Goldrush Records in Perth on a regular basis asking if they had anything. 'No sonny, they haven't released anything yet!'. I love the early acoustic versions of the songs, so when band versions appeared it was initially a let-down, but I soon fell in love with the new, fuller sound. I just assumed that they've never better their debut This Is The Story, but Cap In Hand remains the song most likely to bring a tear to my eye. It's a track that makes me feel overly patriotic, like I'm one of the downtrodden masses without a say in my country's destiny."

Lesley Riddoch, author, broadcaster, blogger

Take the Floor theme Tune and tunes by Michael Marra

"It's a toss-up, really. Robbie Shepherd's Take the Floor is the longest-running show on radio in Scotland. My Highland parents listened to it faithfully every week for the 13 years we lived in Belfast. The theme tune evokes great memories of people, places, and events often dismissed as 'couthy' by fashionable Scots: Highland games; Fisean (the Gaelic learning festivals); DIY ceilidhs on the island of Eigg, and the local accents of Aberdeenshire all spring to mind when I hear those 15 seconds on a Saturday night. Just to be contradictory, I also admire the Scottish ability to cut through layers of sentimentality to the awkward truths that lie beneath. In that regard, Michael Marra always has his finger on the pulse. Hairmless characterises the Scots as a bunch of mild-mannered, coupon-collecting library-goers who wouldn't consciously harm a flea. Mincin wi Charlie is a bittersweet classic, recreating the vainglorious death of Scotsmen who fought for Bonnie Prince Charlie. Perhaps Marra's most poignant song is Happed in Mist , which is based on Louis Grassic Gibbon's Sunset Song. If there's a dry eye in the house after a live rendition of that song, you aren't Scottish – or even human."

PJ Moore, composer and musician (formerly of Blue Nile)

The pibroch

"There can only be one answer, it's the pibroch. I'd be lying if I said I had a favourite and I was that much of a specialist. There's just such a vibe. You get up on Rannoch Moor and you want to hear a pibroch, really. It just so evokes Scotland, fundamentally, and with no bells and whistles. It does feel as if it's of the land."

Alison Kennedy, author and stand-up

The Theme from Local Hero

"I spent three years at Warwick University as a student – this was the first time I'd been out of Scotland for a prolonged period and it was a disorientating experience which caused me to wear a lot of tartan and become very irritating in many ways. Somewhere in the midst of this nonsense Local Hero came out and a) amazed me because it was a film of relatively large scope, but set in Scotland and b) broke my heart every time I trotted off to watch it. The theme tune Dee-dee-de-de-deedleeedle-ee could make me weep helplessly for months afterwards."

Moyna Flannigan, artist

My heart is in the Highlands, by Arvo Prt

"Taking the remote road from Lairg to Lochinver and on to Stoer you enter a landscape as bleak, minimal, and arrestingly beautiful as this song. The music makes me think of the silence there, and of waking up, and finding the mist is down, everything white and not a sound. The surprise of spotting a pool of peaty water from above, a perfect circle in nature, reflecting a blue circle of sky. There's something ancient and timeless about the landscape which is perfectly mirrored in the music. The song's about yearning to be somewhere else and at the same time being pulled back to where you are. It's not a uniquely Scottish feeling, its universal. Arvo Prt learned this Burns poem off by heart as a small boy in Estonia and it was the one he loved the best."

John MacKay, presenter, The STV News at Six

Fear a' Bhata, made popular by Capercaillie

"Fear a' Bhata (The Boatman) is a Gaelic love song of the late 19th century. It was written by a Lewis girl longing for her love at the fishing on Loch Roag. The melody is beautiful enough to still be a favourite today, but it has an added resonance for me because my own forebears all fished that same Atlantic sea loch. The fact that my Faither can listen to his grandson play a tune on the bagpipes that he first heard in the cradle completes the connection. It transports me. Every time."

Ken Bruce, BBC Radio presenter

My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose, by Kenneth McKellar, and Orkney Wedding with Sunrise, by Peter Maxwell Davis

n"A couple of songs spring to mind. Because I am now, and have been resident in England for 25 years, I feel I fall into that great expat trap of becoming a little oversentimental about Scotland. So I'm attracted to some of the more traditional songs of my childhood. I would immediately go for Kenneth McKellar singing My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose, partly because it's Robert Burns, and partly because it simply speaks to the soul. I feel more Scottish when I hear it. And the piece I find now, that absolutely makes me think of home, and represents so much of the variety of the Scottish experience, as I remember it, is Peter Maxwell Davies's Orkney Wedding with Sunrise. The piece sweeps across the revelry, excitement, and slight drunkenness of a wedding and somehow also reflects the countryside, particularly the last part which is the bagpipe solo. Normally I can take or leave the pipes, but when it's part of a whole orchestral piece, I think the bagpipes work wonderfully. That last piece, the Sunrise piece, sends a tingle down the spine and makes me immediately think of home. "