Brian Fogarty

Brian Johnston Fogarty, who has died aged 69, was a musician who throughout his life returned again and again to the central themes that shaped his approach: family, music, cycling and an uncompromising eye for detail.

Born into a family of racing cyclists he shared his father's passion for cycling which found him on roads less travelled all over Scotland and he developed a love of the outdoors, of Scotland and of contentment in his own company as well as others.

Apprenticed in Barr and Strouds in Glasgow, his attention to detail was further developed within a culture of precision. Exacting standards, uncompromising in quality was very much his metier and it shaped the way he would approach his work and life thereafter.

His love of music continued to grow and with two school friends, Alex Beaton and Lennie Sturrock, he formed the group The Cumberland Three. Quickly, they became popular and signed a prestigious record deal with Parlophone and released Introducing The Cumberland Three in 1964. They shared the bill with many stalwarts of the Scottish Folk Music Scene such as Robin Hall, Jimmie MacGregor and Hamish Imlach and as their popularity grew, they moved to London in search of a wider audience.

Radio and television appearances followed and he rubbed shoulders with the greats, Joe Brown and the Bruvvers, Billy Connolly and Gerry Rafferty, Rod Stewart, Jimmy Page and Bob Dylan.

Reviewing the album in a national newspaper, film star and director Richard Attenborough said: "The three inject a wistful, sometimes melancholy air, such that when listening to this LP one can feel the emotion that originally gave rise to the songs."

In 1965, The Cumberland Three split up and Alex Beaton emigrated to America. Since then he has pursued a successful career touring and recording with Eric Rigler, LAPD Pipe Band and fiddler Alistair Fraser. Fogarty married his childhood sweetheart Jean Hunter in 1968. Jean was the daughter of Clyde Valley Stomper founder member Johnny Hunter.

He started a business in 1977 manufacturing hard contact lenses, a highly precise engineering operation that sculpted plastic blank discs to the exact shape of eye. After winding up the contact lens business, he enrolled on a stringed musical instrument repair course at Anniesland College under the tutelage of Paul Hyland. The course was a springboard to combining music, engineering and Fogarty's own special approach to work.

On completion of the course his skills as a stringed instrument repairer were in high demand in Cowal and beyond. He was appointed official instrument repairer for Lochgoilhead Fiddle Workshop and Cowal Fiddle Workshop.

Painstaking musical instrument repair is an unselfish pursuit and together with his role accompanying the Dunoon Young Fiddlers with fiddle tutor Gordon Blair, he fostered a sense of community in his work. It was never about the gold for him, only the music, the company and the chance to enjoy watching and helping people improve.

He was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer in October 2012 and despite his debilitating illness he still maintained his instrument repair work, accompanying the Dunoon Young Fiddlers on guitar at fundraising concerts and teaching guitar up until his death.

He is survived by wife Jean, children Andrew and Jill and grandchildren Sarah and Michael.