Perthshire acting legend Denis Lawson has told why he recorded a hilarious video of himself reciting a Rabbie Burns inspired poem Tae A Virus.
The Local Hero star from Crieff performed the Tae A Mouse inspired verse while dressed in his wife’s tartan from his lockdown home in Wiltshire.
Tae a Virus was written by Ayrshire man Willie Sinclair as an ode to coronavirus.
It begins: “Twa months ago, we didna ken,
yer name or ocht aboot ye
But lots of things have changed since then,
I really must salute ye.”
Denis first came across the poem after a friend sent it to him and a group of his other close pals from school.
He said: “I have a school friend up in Aberfeldy, Colin Clark, and Colin sent me the poem and I thought it was hilarious.
“Because we’re all in the situation we’re in I thought it would be a good exercise to keep my memory muscle going.
“But it’s brilliant so I thought I would do it to camera and then I sent it family just for a laugh.
“So it developed into that bizarre costume, everything I’m wearing belongs to my wife.
“We done it over a few days, God knows we have the time, and then the family said I should put it on social media.”
The Hollywood legend, uncle of fellow Star Wars stalwart Ewan McGregor, does not usually have a social media presence but is glad his video is cheering people.
He said: “It seems to have taken off. I don’t know Willie Sinclair but he’s very clever and it’s a brilliant piece of pastiche.
“It’s very funny and it was quite enjoyable to do. I’ve wanted to entertain people since I was five or six so I hope people share it.”
Mr Lawson was speaking to The Courier from his countryside home in the south west of England.
He said: “I’m very lucky in that I’m quite rural so I can go out the back and walk for miles.
“But it would be lovely to come back up to Crieff soon.”
Author Willie was pleased with the Hollywood actor’s performance as the poem continues to grow arms and legs.
He said: “He’s done a great job, I thought it was awfully good.
“It’s nice to see and to get a wee bit of recognition.
“It just started as a wee joke. It’s amazing. People from all over the world have been contacting me.
“It’s been shared in America, Canada and Australia.”
