So after a conversation with my friend Mike the other day, I was thinking back to the old days, circa 1985 or 1986, when my mom and I first started investigating Scottish music, spurred on by stuff we'd heard in a visitor's center and gift shop on the shores of Loch Ness.

If we hadn't found the right stuff and been hooked like luckless basses, the next 18 or 19 years would've played out very differently. And it's no stretch to say that at least two Scottish bands that had or are having very successful runs in America among folk fans may likely never have crossed the pond.

And, too, thinking about it, many of those records still rank among my/our favorites, stand up to the test of time and remain among the best in the fields of Scottish revival folk, English folk rock and others. So I thought it wouldn't hurt to take an inventory.

• Albion Country Band - Battle of the Field. The album that sparked the idea for this entry. One of the best traditional folk-rock albums ever made, and in my opinion vastly superior to anything else Albion in its various formations have recorded since. Absolutely stunning.
  
• Steeleye Span - Below the Salt. Is it their best album? I dunno, since there are at least a couple of others that could fairly compete for that title. But everything about this record, from the cover art to Tim Hart's bizarre vocals to the deceptively simple acoustic-rock arrangements bespoke both a sense of humor about and a great affection for the older musical traditions of everyday Englishpersons.
  
• Steeleye Span - Parcel of Rogues. Steeleye took on Scottish traditional music. Many critics and fans alike have panned this record, but we adored it ... Especially "Allison Gross."
  
• Silly Wizard - Best of. Words cannot express how much affect this had on both my mom and me. We held off listening to them for a long time because we'd thought their lead singer, Andy M. Stewart, was the same Andy Stewart who'd been a famous music-hall Scottish folksinger in the '50s and '60s and we wanted to stay well away. This album opened our eyes to the virtuosity, and the breadth of feeling and power, in Scottish folk music. Though some of their individual albums were much better than this compilation, this was the first one we heard. It was a good summation of their collective career to that point.
  
• Tannahill Weavers - Dancing Feet. I'm not sure what to say about this, except that they had an attractive energy, great harmonies ... and bagpipes!
  
• Fairport Convention - Liege and Lief. One of the first-ever English folk-rock albums, a mix of the traditional and the original. This one grabbed me right away and has never let go. My mom liked it but never completely embraced it.
  
• Horslips - The Tain. An old Irish folk-rock concept album, this was the only Irish album in the early days that really grabbed us. But its mix of early-'70s rock and traditional Irish songs and tunes, with some original material to flesh out the story of one of Ireland's great folk-heroes was groundbreaking for its time and left us humming for months (especially "Charolais" and "Dearg Doom.").
  

There's not a single album on here from later than, say, 1986, but every one of these is a gem. If you have a chance, if you see them in the bargain bin, or whatever, pick them up.