My friend Lord (Robert) Maclennan of Rogart made a lifelong contribution to the arts. His family was steeped in the theatre: his brother David and brother-in-law John McGrath playwrights, and his sister Elizabeth an actor and poet. Robert was the librettist for David Horne’s opera Friend of the People, based on the life of Thomas Muir, premiered by Scottish Opera in 1999. He was also a patron of Scottish radical painters – buying work at difficult times was a significant help – and when young he was a talented amateur violinist.
