Home   News   Article

Willie set to serve up his 150th Saturday night Tunes on the Spoons


By Alan Hendry

Easier access to your trusted, local news. Subscribe to a digital package and support local news publishing.



Click here to sign up to our free newsletters!
Willie Mackay is preparing for this weekend's musical session which will be his 150th Saturday night Tunes on the Spoons.
Willie Mackay is preparing for this weekend's musical session which will be his 150th Saturday night Tunes on the Spoons.

Willie Mackay is preparing for another spoon-playing milestone as he continues to serve up a weekly dose of musical entertainment for his social media fans.

This weekend will mark Willie's 150th Saturday night Tunes on the Spoons – two years and 10 months after he began the upbeat sessions as a tribute to frontline health workers during the pandemic.

His toe-tapping performances on Facebook have been a huge hit at home and abroad. With his wife Glynis doing the filming, Willie attracts thousands of hits, comments and shares each Saturday.

His next target is to complete 200 nights on the spoons.

Willie (74), who lives at Oldhall, Watten, learnt to play the spoons in 1968 while working at Craibstone college of agriculture in Aberdeen.

"I tap along on the spoons to well-known Scottish tunes, the more rousing the better, for about three minutes and post it on my own Facebook page and several other social media sites," he explained.

"There is always a great response with requests to learn spoon-playing and how to hold them, which is so important, and of course requests from around the world for birthdays, anniversaries and celebrations.

"One particular Saturday night Tunes on the Spoons session I did in January this year is still attracting a lot of attention with to date 251,000 hits and 13,000 comments, and it has been shared 76,000 times.

Willie's spoons were bought for 10p each in a local charity shop. In this photo he shows how to hold them.
Willie's spoons were bought for 10p each in a local charity shop. In this photo he shows how to hold them.

"I've entertained with the spoons at most of the care homes in Caithness, which was so enjoyable as I had spoons for all the residents to have a go and take part which they thoroughly enjoyed.

"I'd like to continue spooning along and aim for 200. During the summer months I play outside our cottage at Oldhall and in the winter I play indoors, usually in front of a cosy coal fire."

Originally from Embo, Willie came to Caithness in 1970 to join the AI Cattle Breeding Service, covering Caithness and parts of Sutherland as far as Tongue and Golspie.

Willie is an independent Highland councillor for Wick and East Caithness. He is a former civic leader of the county and ex-provost of Wick.


Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.



This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies - Learn More