As part of Danny's last requests, he wished his ashes scattered at various festival venues which he had a close association. One of the venues was Stonehaven. So, combined with a memory bash concert, on the 24th of October 1999 some of his ashes were spread on the beach of Stonehaven, complete with a fish supper and Mars bar (banned food for Danny but which he continued to secretly enjoy!). He would have approved of the irreverant ceremony.
Being friends of Danny for over 30 years, and having been involved in the Stonehaven Folk Festival for eight years, both Maggie and myself, and at the request of his family and close friends, had organised this memory bash for him in Stonehaven.
We recognize his love to the music and tradition and know how much he will be missing it, equally as much as most of us miss him. To that end it had been suggested that a fitting memorial to him would to have a papier mache statue to ensure that he can continue visiting all the festivals as a guest of honour. We proposed therefore to charge a 'donation' for the concert; all proceeds went to the Mache Fund.
The concert in Stonehaven was a marvealous event, thanks to all the artists and the audience who made it all happen. Folk travelled from all airts and pairts and Danny must have been smiling with us. The night started at around 8 and we didnt finish the concert set till 1 in the morning. Everyone was brilliant.
The concert was a great success raising about £700, with monies still coming in afterwards. The result is that the Mache figure has been commissioned to be done by Jan Miller, who assures us that Danny will be appearing at Killin Festival! Danny can only be smiling at the thought of joining the ranks of immortals!
Danny lives on in the hearts of many which was evident by the atmosphere songs and stories heard last night.
Photo Credit: The Mollis
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