Robin Williams ‘found peace’ in Scottish Highlands trips with pal Billy Connolly
THE tragic actor and comedian had a real affinity with the Highlands where he was a regular visitor and loved to mingle with the locals.
ROBIN Williams stood at the rail of the yacht on Loch Ness, gazing at the brooding Highland hills.
The manic comic mask the world knew so well was gone as he let the landscape he loved soothe what we now know was a very troubled mind.
The intensity and longing etched on his face made a powerful impression on the man leading the tragic star’s journey that day.
Boat guide Steve Feltham, recalls: “He seemed to have an affinity with where he was, he looked so wistful, caught up in the romance of it”.
But just ten minutes before, Williams and his great friend Billy Connolly had been in full-on comic mode as the yacht passed below the iconic Urquhart Castle.
Steve tells how Billy yelled to stunned tourists: “You’re castle’s rubbish. It hasn’t even got a roof.”
Then Williams joined in, putting on a camp voice, and shouting: “I’m going to pebbledash it pink.”
Williams, who fought a long battle with alcoholism and depression before committing suicide this week, managed to find peace on his many visits to Scotland.
He loved the country so much he would joke he was born in Edinburgh, not Chicago, and even gave his famous comic creation, Mrs Doubtfire, a Scottish accent.
Another guest on the yacht trip that day was Eric Idle, who later described how Williams could “go from manic to mad, to tender and vulnerable, the most unique mind on the planet”.
But that unique mind also had a dark side, and after Robin, 63, was found hanged at his home in California on Monday, his wife Susan Schneider revealed he was in the grip of a deep depression.
He was also in the early stages of Parkinson’s Disease, which, in a cruel irony, has also afflicted Billy Connolly, his host on that visit to Scotland in August 2001.
Billy and his wife Pamela had invited Robin to a house party for the Lonach Gathering and Highland Games near their baronial Donside home, Candacraig,
Robin threw himself into the spirit of the day. He dressed in a kilt and tweed jacket, topped with a bonnet, then later changed into his running kit to take part in a gruelling four-mile hill race.
He was relaxed, and happily left the VIP stand to mingle with the crowds.
But to give his guests respite from the autograph hunters, Billy arranged a boat trip, monster hunting on Loch Ness.
Nessie expert Steve, 51, was invited as a guide. He says: “It was a big secret. I was asked along because of my knowledge of the area and the Loch Ness monster.”
Steve had no idea who was organising the trip or who would be on board before he arrived on the boat at Fort Augustus.
Billy and Pamela’s guests also included Trainspotting actor Ewan McGregor, and Monty Python star Eric Idle.
Steve chatted to all on board the Royal Scot and soon learned how much Scotland meant to Robin, who told him how he had loved the country since appearing at the Edinburgh fringe in the 1970s.
He even had a favourite cafe and a passion for Scottish “square slice” sausage sandwiches.
Steve says: “He was a lovely man. Very approachable and down to earth. He was quality.
“We talked a lot about the Highlands and he was very knowledgeable.
“He knew all about the way of life, the Highlanders, the Gaelic language and the Clearances. He knew about Loch Ness and Nessie and was keen to learn more. A true gentleman.”
But later, as the yacht made its way up the loch, Robin took a time out to soak up the scenery.
Steve says: “The Highlands are a powerful place, but if you don’t seek it out you can just look at the landscape and not see what’s behind it. Robin wanted to get more of a feel for it, and more of an appreciation of what he was seeing.
“There are parts of the loch, particularly near Urquhart Bay, where he really did appreciate looking into those hills. I remember he was deep in thought. That memory lives on with me still.”
But Steve adds: “That’s not to say he was melancholy. He was very approachable, very down to earth and very willing to chat to me.”
When they got back to shore, the press, tipped off after the banter at the castle, were waiting.
Steve said: “Photographers were waiting for us when we disembarked. It was because of the incident at the castle.
“Robin took it all in his stride and posed for photographs quite happily. Pamela was going mental, and they were all hustled away, but Robin just left in his own time. It was so refreshing to see someone so world-class being so normal.
“It will always stay with me.
“When I heard on the radio that he had gone, I instantly thought of that day and what a privilege it had been to spend it with him.”
Robin’s visits to Scotland became more frequent after Billy and Pamela bought Candacraig House in 1998 and the comic, who won an Oscar for Good Will Hunting, became a regular at the Lonach Games.
Pamela and Billy were devastated by the news of their friend’s death.
Pamela said: “Robin was one of the most uniquely brilliant and complicated comic artists the world has ever known.
“He navigated a dangerous high wire at every single moment – with no safety net. My husband and I loved and admired him deeply and will miss him in a way that is beyond words.”
George Thomson, a former secretary of the Lonach Games, also paid tribute.
He said: “Billy Connolly had a lot of guests. Robin was part of the crowd that people would recognise, but he always stood out.
“He was very popular. He always used to take part in the hill race, and he was very good at it. It’s a very tough course, up the hill and on tracks and trails, but he used to do well.
“I thought he was an excellent person. It is tragic altogether that he has died.”
