Hugh Gallagher was a fixture in the Royal Oak for as long as I have been singing there. A shock of grey hair and watery blue eyes that stared into space, he sat on his seat by the door, oft mouthing the words of a song you sang, and occasionally giving a perfunctory, "Good song" on completion. A deep man, with a troubled past, whose death touched all of the regulars who knew and loved him. Trying to get a man's life into five verses is supremely difficult, but I hope I will be forgiven for the attempt to bring closure for myself, and to tell others a little about Hughie. I must thank the remarkable Grant Simpson for the haunting fiddle track he so generously contributed.

For Hughie

Neil Devlin, Singer/Songwriter from County Durham, England!
