This portrait of the composer Francis George Scott makes clear the source of his inspiration - he seems to rise like a giant from the hills of the Scottish Borders. Scott and Johnstone were cousins, and these two men, with their friend the poet Hugh MacDiarmid, shared a belief in the importance of creating a distinctively Scottish culture. Scott's work draws on Scottish folk music and speech rhythms. He set many of MacDiarmid's poems to music as well as verses by earlier Scottish poets such as Robert Burns.