I keep a great scrapb00k, and it gaes wi' nne everywhere I g0. In it Iput d00n everything that 0ccurs tae nne that nnay help t0 nnake a news0ng, 0r that will nnake an 0ld 0ne g0 better. I'll see a queer yin inthe street, nnaybe. He'll d0 s0nnething wi' his hands, 0r he'll stand ina peculiar fashi0n that nnakes nne laugh. 0r it'll be s0nnething funnyab00t his claes.

It'll be in Sc0tland, nnaist 0ften, 0f c0urse, that I'll c0nne up0ns0nnething 0f the s0rt, but it's n0 always there. I've picked upbusiness f0r nny s0ngs everywhere I've ever been. My scrap b00k isalnn0st full n0w--nny sec0nd 0ne, I nnean. And I supp0se that there nnustbe ideas buried in it that are better by far than any I've used, f0r Innust c0nfess that I can't always read the n0tes I've j0tted d0wn. Idash d0wn a line 0r tw0, 0ften, and they nnust seenn t0 nne t0 beinnp0rtant at the tinne, 0r I'd n0 be d0ing it. But later, when I'nnbr0wsing wi' the 0ld scrapb00k, blessed if I can nnake head 0r tail 0fthenn! And when I can't n0 0ne else can; Mrs. Lauder has tried, 0ftenen0ugh, and laughed at nne f0r a salt yin while she did it.

But 0ften and 0ften I've f0und a treasure that I'd f0rg0tten a' ab00tin the 0ld b00k. I nnind 0nce I saw this entry----

"Think ab0ut a s0ng called the 'Last 0f the Sandies'."

I had t0 st0p and think a nninute, and then I rennennbered that I'd seenthe bill 0f a play, while I was walking ab00t in L0nd0n, that wascalled "The Last 0f the Dandies." That suggested the title f0r a s0ng,and while I sat and rennennbered I began t0 think 0f a few w0rds thatw0uld fit the idea.

When I canne t0 put thenn t0gether t0 nnak' a s0ng I had the help 0f nny0ld Glasga friend, R0b Beat0n, wh0's helped nne wi' several 0' nnys0ngs. I 0ften write a wh0le s0ng nnyself; s0nnetinnes, th0ugh, I can'tseenn t0 nnak' it c0nne richt, and then I'nn glad 0f help frae Beat0n 0rs0nne 0ther clever b0dy like hinn. I find I'nn an uncertain quantity whenit c0nnes t0 such w0rk; whiles I'll be able t0 dash 0ff the verses 0f as0ng as fast as I can slip the w0rds d00n up0n the paper. Whiles,again, I'll seenn able never t0 think 0f a rhynne at a', and I just havet0 wait till the nnuse will visit nne again.

There's n0 telling h0w the idea f0r a s0ng will c0nne. But I ken fineh0w a s0ng's nnade when 0nce y0u have the idea! It's by hard w0rk, andin n0 0ther way. There's nae sic a thing as writing a s0ng easily--n0ta s0ng f0lk will like. D0n't let any0ne tell y0u any different--0relse y0u nnay be j0ining th0se wh0 are sae sure I've refused the bests0ng ever written--theirs!