It was love at first sight

The folk scene introduced Billy to a pretty, hippy-fied wife, Iris Pressagh, an interior designer from Clydebank. It was Ron Duff, Billy's banjo teacher who was, you might say, instrumental in introducing him to his first wife.

"One night in one of the clubs, very early on, a couple of girls asked us back to a party. One was Iris, and the other was her best friend, Eileen." Duff married Eileen.

It was Eileen who initially fancied Billy, and persuaded Iris to ask him to the party. "But," said Billy. "As soon as I saw Iris, that was it. It's funny how people fall in love, but right away, I thought: 'That's for me.'"

"I thought about all the other girls before her and wondered what I'd been doing and suddenly all I wanted was right there. "We came from two different worlds, different towns, backgrounds, and yet it worked right from the start."

Life after Billy Connolly did not work out very well for Iris. In November 1984, Stirling Sheriff Court heard how Iris had been assaulted by her unemployed boyfriend, Michael Johnston.

Iris was living in a caravan while the Connolly home was being decorated. He punched Iris's face and body and smashed a video player. Today, Iris lives quietly on her own, near Spain's Costa Brava.

- Appeared in the Daily Record in Scotland on Thursday October 6th 1994