“Ally bally, ally bally bee, Sittin on yer mammy’s knee Greetin for a wee bawbee Tae buy some Coulter’s candy” HE wrote and performed what has become one of the world’s best loved traditional folk songs.

Yet Robert Coltart – the Coulter of the chorus - lies in an unmarked grave in Eastlands Cemetery and his connection with Galashiels remains steadfastly uncelebrated.

But all that will change if Graham McIver, who has carried out extensive research into the eponymous confectioner, has his way.

Mr McIver told last week’s open meeting in the Volunteer Hall that a memorial to Coltart would enhance the town’s ability to attract visitors when the first trains for 46 years start running next September. “Other Borders towns have their abbeys and Abbotsford, of course, has Scott, but Gala doesn’t seem to have an obvious angle to bring in the tourists,” said Mr McIver. “I believe Coltart deserves to be recognised and could really help us market our town to visitors from across the world because the song is so well known.” Ironically, it was the first incarnation of the railway in 1849 that brought the teenaged Coltart, an aspirant weaver from Galloway, to seek his fortune in the bustling mill town of Galashiels.

He married a local girl and the couple had eight children, three of whom died in infancy.

Doubtless driven by paternal responsibility, the rather eccentric Coltart began making aniseed flavoured (and apparently very moreish) boiled sweets from the cramped family home in Overhaugh Street.

Selling his wares from a wheelbarrow and sporting a Glengarry hat with a large feather, Coltart cut an endearing and memorable dash, not only in Galashiels, but also in Melrose and Innerleithen, especially on market days. His key promotional tool – his self-penned jingle Coulter’s Candy which he belted out with all the vim and vigour of a town cryer – passed into popular local culture although history records that Coltart died in poverty in Henderson’s Close (near the Roxburgh Street dental surgery] in 1880. He was 58.

The song found a new lease of life and a wider audience in 1961 when it was recorded by famous Scots folk duo Robin Hall and Jimmy McGregor. It went on to feature on recordings by a range of artists, including Donovan and Hamish Imlach.

Mr McIver discovered the connection between the song, its composer and Galashiels while working in the Scottish Parliament a decade ago and, in the course of his research, met Jimmy McGregor and Scottish song archivist Ewan McVicar who put him in touch with descendents of Robert Coltart. “I’ve always been fascinated by local history and helped set up a community interest publishing company called Border Voices,” Mr McIver told the Border Telegraph. “I had completed most of the research on my book about Coltart in 2008 when the recession came along and my chances of funding disappeared.

“When I heard about the open meeting about how Galashiels might take advantage of the railway, I saw an opportunity to put the case for Coltart to be celebrated – perhaps with a statue.

“I recently visited Limavady in North Ireland which was the birthplace of Jane Ross who first transcribed The Londonderry Air, perhaps better known as Danny Boy.

“There’s a plaque above her house and banners around the town proclaim the connection. It’s a big part of the visitor experience to that wee town and I think Coltart could perform the same role in Galashiels. As far as marketing our town is concerned, I believe every little helps.”