On the top of the hill on the opposite side of the valley from our house in South Ayrshire a hardy Hawthorn tree stands. Battered by the westerly wind it remains resolute and strong. I have loved this tree ever since I first moved here fifty years ago, and I imagine it has thrived here for much longer than that. I feel it deserves a little tribute; hence this Strathspey which is an arrangement of the third movement of my orchestral score The Deil Dances written for the Ayrshire Symphony Orchestra.