There was an inevitability about the meeting of John and Margaret… their paths and their interests had been intertwining for years.

[audio: http://www.thecannastory.com/wp-content/audio/canna_2.mp3]

Several times they had been in the same place at the same time, but had not met until a wet night in 1934 when he took the Lochearn to South Uist to address a meeting of the Sea League. He had heard about the young American who was collecting songs and taking photographs and he hoped she might provide illustrations for his book. He might secretly have been hoping for more than that.

This is an extract from Ray Perman’s forthcoming book, The Man Who Gave Away His Album, which will be published by Birlinn in April 2010.