Glasgow Letter

I wrote last week that Ally Buckets MacLean and his band had played in the Park Bar. This was fake news.

Ali Buckets MacDonald was playing in the Park Bar and so was Ally MacLean… but they are two different people!

My confusion began the following day when I told my pal John Robertson that Ali Buckets had been playing the box in the Park Bar last night with Ally MacLean on the pipes. This, it turns out, was correct. But not in John’s book.

'You’ve got confused,' he told me assuredly. 'It’s the same person – Ally MacLean’s nickname is Ally Buckets!'

I thought this was strange because I’ve known Ally MacLean for years and never heard anyone call him Ally Buckets. However, I trust John’s word implicitly so I took it at face value.

Right up until The Oban Times came out last Thursday and I got a message from Ally laughing his head off that I had confused the two of them.

My apologies to Ali Buckets MacDonald who led the band