Eccentric Megan Boyd lived a simple life in a basic cabin in the Highlands, with no electricity, or phone and just her dog for company, and yet she became world renowned in the fishing industry.
Her beautiful – and, according to anglers, very effective – fishing flies gained legendary status and won her a host of admirers – the most famous being the Prince of Wales, who used to visit her home to buy flies while he was in Sutherland.
Now, more than 12 years after her death at the age of 86 in November 2001, her fascinating life has been immortalised in a documentary, due to hit cinemas this weekend.
And it is hoped the release of the film will give the Highlands a major tourism boost.
Born in England in 1915, Ms Boyd moved to Scotland with her family when she was three. Her father worked as a gillie on an estate in Sutherland. She received no formal training for tying flies, but learned from a local gamekeeper.
By the mid-1930s, Megan had moved into her cottage, where thousands of people would later travel to buy her world-famous flies.
Among those was Prince Charles who, it is thought, was made to sit on the same rickety chair in the cottage’s draughty antechamber as everyone else while Ms Boyd made her flies by the light of a paraffin lamp.
PRINCESS DIANA
She kept in touch with Prince Charles and sent him a touching note of congratulations when he married Princess Diana, describing her as “the best catch you will ever have”.
In 1971, she was awarded the British Empire Medal, but she wrote to the Queen to decline her invitation to Buckingham Palace, saying she had no one to look after her dog.
She retired from full-time fly-making in 1985, because her eyesight was deteriorating. Remarkably, she was so talented that she was able to continue tying flies in the dark.
And, despite being one of the foremost fly-makers in the world, she never once went fishing.
Ronald Sutherland, owner of Helmsdale Tackle Company, first met Ms Boyd when he was six, when he began picking up fly orders for his father, who was a gillie on the River Helmsdale.
The 47-year-old said his first impressions of Ms Boyd are still very strong to this day.
“I remember seeing these amazing-looking creations she made out of feathers, wool and tinsel, and I was immediately hooked,” he said.
“My first impressions of her were how intense she was working with concentration, but a very helpful and pleasant lady otherwise, strangely always dressed in tweeds. The more I got to know her, the more amazing she seemed as I began to understand just how talented she was. She tied the most incredible and detailed flies with such precision. I wanted to do the same and was keen to keep watching her.”
Mr Sutherland later became Ms Boyd’s student and credits her as a major influence on his successful career.
“If I did not meet Megan, I would not be where I am now as salmon-fly consultant for Fulling Mill, which is the biggest commercial fly manufacturer in the world,” he said.
“I have also built my fishing-tackle business around high-quality salmon flies: Megan tied only the best- quality flies, and that is the model I follow.
“She was always a very patient teacher, as I think she saw some potential and my real enthusiasm for tying.
FONDEST MEMORY
“My fondest memory would be having tea with her often in her house with no electricity. I was amazed how she survived alone and tied flies with no lights. I felt sorry for her in a way, but that was her choice.”
Ms Boyd has been described repeatedly as a recluse in the past, but Mr Sutherland argues that her choice to be alone was more due to her successful business.
He said: “She liked to keep herself to herself, but loved going out to Highland dancing events and travelling on her motorbike. I think she was just so busy tying flies; the art is very time consuming.
“Elaborate flies took a lot of time to create, so I think ‘reclusive’ is a little strong a word. She was just incredibly busy and was committed to tying the best-quality flies.”
Mr Sutherland was one of the many people who knew Ms Boyd who helped research the documentary by American filmmaker Eric Steele, Kiss the Water.
He said it was a “pleasure” to be part of the film and it was “high time she was recognised and given her place in history”.
“She deserved all the acclaim she got. Eric captured everything brilliantly: her exceptional talent, the surrounding landscape, all to wonderful music intertwined with incredible animation, the movie is a fitting tribute to her life.
“I was invited to the film premiere at the Edinburgh Film Festival and enjoyed the experience very much, meeting Eric and the producers again, who were delighted with how the film turned out.
“I think Megan would have wondered what all the fuss was about, of course, but that’s just how she was.”
The idea for the documentary is almost as unusual as the woman herself.
THE BRIDGE
Mr Steele, whose films include The Bridge as well as being a producer on Julie and Julia and Angela’s Ashes, first heard about Ms Boyd while looking through the obituaries in the New York Times – something he has done for as long as he can remember.
“It sounds like a morbid fascination, but I don’t read them to see who has died, but to let my mind wander into the lives of others, perhaps searching for clues or clarity or examples of how to find and follow my own path,” he said.
“Ten years ago – long before I had made The Bridge or imagined that I would actually be a filmmaker – I found the obituary of Megan Boyd, a woman who made fantastic fishing flies from a tiny cottage along the remote northern coast of Scotland.
“I am not a fisherman, had never been to Scotland, and don’t eat salmon, so there was no immediate reason I should have found her story all that interesting. And yet I cut it out and pinned it to the wall near my desk.”
After making The Bridge, the result of one year’s filming of the Golden Gate Bridge, which captured a number of suicides and contained interviews with friends and families of the victims, Eric admits he learned some important things about his craft and about people.
He said: “What I discovered, watching the Golden Gate Bridge for most of an entire year, was that if I stared at something long enough, I began to get glimpses of things others could not or would not notice. And I came to understand just how significant is the difference between the image one presents to the world, on the surface, and what one might be feeling and living inside, beneath the surface.”
He then returned to Ms Boyd’s obituary to see if he could see what was hidden under the surface of this woman’s life.
Taking a small, intrepid crew, Eric made his way to Kintradwell, where Ms Boyd lived, about three miles north of Brora and four miles south of Helmsdale, to find out more about her. The documentary features interviews with many of her friends and interviews with people from the fishing industry.
COLLAPSING COTTAGE
Eric said: “I spent long days peering into and out through the window of her now abandoned and collapsing cottage. We marched up alongside the rivers and glens of the spectacular Scottish countryside and looked out over the grey expanse of the North Sea.
“And I listened to fly fishermen give me their theories on why salmon favoured Megan’s flies over all others.”
The documentary has received glowing reviews since it premiered at film festivals from Edinburgh to Vancouver. It is hoped that its success will lead to more people venturing to the north of Scotland to see the beautiful landscapes for themselves.
Colin Simpson, tourism co-ordinator for Highland Council and part of the Highland Film Commission, said: “It’s always hard to say, but there has been evidence in the past that showed that films that showcase Highland scenery or Highland attractions like castles definitely bring more people to the area.
“We have seen evidence of this over quite a number of years – from Braveheart to James Bond, and the new Batman in the past 18 months. It can also help spread the tourism about. Those who might come to the Highlands and just stay in Inverness might consider going farther north having seen images of it in a film.
“And it’s not all about trying to make the area a desirable place to visit; it’s also about promoting the fact that people in the Highlands are willing to help filmmakers complete their projects. That’s the real purpose of our film unit.”
Kiss the Water begins its tour in Scotland at the Dundee Contemporary Arts Centre on Thursday, January 16.
The rest of the dates are:
Timespan, Helmsdale, on January 17
Eden Court Theatre, Inverness, January 17-23
Mareel, Lerwick on February 5.
There will also be Screen Machine viewings as follows:
Liniclate, Benbecula, January 26
Lochcarron, February 5
Ullapool, February 11
Bettyhill, February 18