ICONIC Scottish singer-songwriter Dougie MacLean will tell old stories and sing songs as the Carnegie Hall calls his name.

The art deco theatre was named after Dunfermline’s most famous son, Andrew Carnegie, and its stage has welcomed the footsteps of legendary names.

MacLean has a connection stronger than most, however, as a piece of the philanthropist’s legacy stands proudly in his Perthshire home.

He told Press:ON: “I’ve actually got a piano in the house that belonged to Andrew Carnegie, believe it or not.

“My next-door neighbour was Carnegie’s grand-daughter, and she inherited a couple of pianos from Skibo Castle – where Carnegie lived – when it closed down. One was a Steinway, and the other was a Bechstein.

“She didn’t have room for this Bechstein upright piano, so she sold it to me and it’s now in my house here. It’s great to have.

“I think it’s more than 100-years-old this piano and it plays beautifully. It’s gone from New York, to Skibo Castle, to my house!

“It’s quite nice to think that maybe he sat down and played this piano. It’s a great connection to have with him.”

The national treasure is world-renowned for penning Caledonia, a song that fills Scots with pride and love for their country.

He’s performed the ‘homesick’ track countless times across the world, a concept incomprehensible to him when he wrote it on a French beach.

“I get a bit of a kick out of having people singing that song when I wrote it in my twenties, so it’s gone well for 40 years,” he laughed.

“It would be quite nice to have people singing Caledonia for the next 100 years, too!

“It’s a fascinating thing for a songwriter. This is my 44th year as a travelling troubadour, so it’s great to have that longevity. It’s been quite bizarre to watch the popularity of that song grow. It still grows more arms and legs every year, not just in Scotland, but in Ireland as well. I wrote it on a beach in France when I was feeling homesick. It’s been fascinating to watch its journey.

“It’s a wonderful thing. I walk into a pub, and the pub’s band is playing it. I walk down the street and the buskers are playing it. It’s fascinating to say, ‘Gosh, that’s that wee song I wrote on the beach all those years ago’.

“It’s magical, to be honest with you.

"I had the privilege of singing it at the end of the Commonwealth Games with something like one billion people watching. That was special.

"If someone had told me, whilst I was sitting on that beach, that I’d go on to play it during the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games or at Hampden Park, I’d have told them to stop being silly.

“I was a very young man when I wrote it but I still love singing it and sharing it with people. It’s genuinely me on stage, not someone or something that’s been contrived by a record company or management company. That’s how I’ve managed to create longevity and retain my integrity.”

While the names Caledonia and Dougie MacLean go hand in hand, fellow Scottish artists have put their vocals to his words, with the likes of Paolo Nutini and Amy MacDonald paying tribute to his writing.

He feels humbled by it, and remarked that he finds great joy in younger audiences now discovering his songs. He hopes many of them will be in attendance at the Carnegie Hall in Dunfermline this Saturday, February 16.

MacLean said: “I have such a catalogue of material that I change songs in the middle of the set if I want to, and that’s a wonderful place to be in. Most people probably haven’t heard most of them, but that’s part of the fun. People come to my show, enjoy a couple of songs, then discover I have 25 other records of songs!

“They’re all pretty special to me. There’s not one that’s more important than the other, as it’s a catalogue of my life in music. I’ve found that people enjoy the universal themes of my music.

“I’ve had letters from people who have thanked me for helping them through their darker moments. That’s what being a musician is all about. It’s not necessarily in concerts where the real magic happens, it’s when people are on their own in a dark place. If I’m able to lift them up in any way, it’s a great privilege. When my daughter was a little girl, she was asked by a teacher what her dad did for a living. She told them that I was a magician. And, sometimes, it really feels that way.”

The concert starts at 7.30pm and tickets are available via: www.onfife.com and cost £25.