A band who inspired the name of a century old oak tree are searching for a man who travelled from the Netherlands to see it – and got a guided tour from one of them.

Andrew Stevenson co-founded Celtic band Skipinnish with Angus MacPhail in 1999 and the tree was named after them following an encounter with experts from the Native Woodland Discussion Group in 2009.

It came as a pure coincidence that Skippinish had been playing at a ceilidh for the group and he informed them about it, but they had never heard about it – including one of the group who had just written a book on the best 100 trees in the UK and had to quickly admit it was out of date.  

He still lives in the Lochaber area and was working outside when a Dutch tree enthusiast appeared and asked where the famous oak was.

It was lucky for the Dutch tourist too, who had spent the summer before trying to find the tree but couldn’t locate it and had to come back a second year.

The singer decided it was best to show him himself instead of trying to explain and took him to it, and they spent hours discussing the history of it and telling stories.

The tree has attracted a lot of interest recently after being nominated for the Woodland Trust’s UK Tree of the Year award for 2024 with visitor numbers growing.

Mr Stevenson is a key reason as to why the tree is named the Skipinnish Oak, having performed at an event for a group of woodland enthusiasts in 2009 and then telling them about the tree, and they were so taken by the pedigree of it they decided it should be named after the band.

The group are to perform their biggest ever show at the Hydro in Glasgow in September 2025 and they want to have the Dutch visitor as their special guest at the event.

Andrew Stevenson at the treeAndrew Stevenson at the tree (Image: Andrew Stevenson)

It will be their biggest ever gig with 14,000 people expected to attend and if the tree wins the band will also be writing and releasing a song about it and they want the Dutch fan to be in attendance.

“It was only after it that I felt a bit bad and should have offered the guy tickets to the gig”, admitted the Skipinnish co-founder.

“He was also a Skipinnish fan because he was into the music. He was absolutely over the moon to see the tree but also the circumstances to it and having a chat for an hour or two about local stories and history.

“It was such a random day. I was just in my work clothes and it wouldn’t be the image you’d have of a musician.”

The tree itself had effectively been lost when the woodland around it was built up and it was only really when it was named the Skipinnish Oak that it has turned back into the magnificent tree it had been before.

The musician added: “Unfortunately we were so captivated by the ancient oak and exchanging tree stories that I didn’t get any information from him apart from the fact that he is Dutch. We would love to find out who he is and we’d be delighted to invite him to our Glasgow OVO Hydro gig in September 2025 and maybe hear the Skipinnish Oak tune we’ll

compose if it wins the accolade. So please vote and make this enthusiast’s Skipinnish gig even more special.”

The Skipinnish Oak is up against 11 other UK oaks with voting closing on Monday, October 21st. The competition is run by the Woodland Trust to celebration the contribution trees have on people’s lives as well as the planet.

The winner will then go on and represent the UK in the Europe Tree of the Year competition and Mr Stevenson is hopeful that will be the case.

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He continued: “The Skipinnish Oak attracts a lot of attention due to its age and stunning location but you have to know where it is and how to get to it. It was by pure chance that the enthusiast bumped into me to ask where it was and it was easier to take him to it rather than describe its location.

“This was a genuine tree enthusiast and he was keen to know as much as I knew about it. Luckily, having been brought up locally, I had all the stories and tales passed down to me from my forebears and I was able to tell him all I knew. It was great to see someone as excited about this ancient tree as I am.

“It would be amazing if it won the award. It was literally a skeleton when I found it again and was smothered but the Woodland Trust must have done some preservation work and it has slowly opened up, it has started to grow again and has a lot of leaves.”

People can vote through the Woodland Trust website. Voting closes on 21st October.