He could have gone fishing, grazed his cattle or raised a militia. But for Lord Macfarlane, the first taste of freedom yesterday was lunch at Glasgow City Chambers.
Feted by distinguished fellow citizens and serenaded to the tune of Mack The Knife, the city's latest freeman laughed off the inevitable question, allegedly asked of a relative: "What was he in for?"
He joined a list which includes - among living contemporaries - Nelson Mandela, Jim Watt, Kenny Dalglish, Sir Alex Ferguson and the Duke of Edinburgh.
Lord Macfarlane of Bearsden - to give him the full title conferred in 1999 - built his fortune on stationery and packaging, later heading Diageo, the UK's biggest drinks company, but it is his philanthropic works which have endeared him to the city in which he was born 82 years ago.
More specifically, his name is associated more than any other with the huge fundraising effort which secured the refurbishment of the Kelvingrove Museum and Art Galleries, now a jewel in Glasgow's and Scotland's cultural crown.
The son of a Glasgow councillor, Norman Macfarlane was born in Shawlands and educated at the High School of Glasgow.
He served in Palestine with the Royal Artillery and used his £200 gratuity to establish Macfarlane Group, now an international organisation with businesses in the UK, Europe and the US, and a turnover of £130m.
Other business appointments he has held include chairmanships of Guinness, United Distillers, and the Fine Art Society, and deputy chairmanship of the Clydesdale Bank.
When he first entered the United Distillers headquarters as chairman he recalled going through the same doors previously with a batch of samples, hoping to pick up some orders.
His list of public appointments includes president of the Glasgow School of Art, the High School of Glasgow, and Scottish Ballet, trustee of the Heritage Lottery Fund and the National Galleries of Scotland, and president of the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society.
Sporting interests include being patron of Queen's Park FC and vice-president of the Professional Golfers' Association.
Conferring the freedom of the city on him, Lord Provost Liz Cameron said: "Lord Macfarlane has achieved a great deal in his own life, and done so much for his home city and country in the fields of business, commerce, the arts and charity.
"His devotion to Glasgow is perhaps best summed up by his tireless work as the chairman of the Kelvingrove Refurbishment Appeal, where his inspirational work resulted in the huge sum of £12.75m being donated to Kelvingrove."
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In illustrious company
- Edward Jenner, inventor of vaccination
- Sir Samuel Curran, principal of Strathclyde University, 1964-80
- General Ulysses S Grant (ex-President of the US)
- Herbert Asquith, Prime Minister, 1908-16
- Marie Curie, discoverer of radium and polonium and winner of the Nobel Prizes for physics and chemistry
- Duke of Edinburgh
- Kenny Dalglish, footballer
- Nelson Mandela, ex-President of South Africa
- Benno Schotz, artist/ sculptor
- Jim Watt, boxer
- Sir Alex Ferguson, football manager
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