It is impossible to talk about Sam Heughan without mentioning the television phenomenon Outlander. Based on the romantic novels by Diana Gabaldon, the drama follows the story of a Second World War nurse who, while on honeymoon in Scotland, falls through ancient standing stones and travels back in time to 1743 where she meets the Highland warrior Jamie Fraser, played by Heughan, and falls headlong in love.

The popularity of the show is illustrated by Heughan’s four million Instagram followers and the hordes of ‘Heughligan’ fans around the world. However, his life didn’t begin with such fanfare. The noise and puff of show business is a far cry from his humble beginnings in New Galloway. Like all Scottish legends, Heughan’s story begins like a fairy tale: raised by a single mother, he grew up in a converted stable in the grounds of Castle Kenmure, on the shores of Loch Ken.

“I know it wasn’t easy for my mother raising my brother, Cirdan, and me on her own but it was in many ways an idyllic childhood,” he says. “The ancient walled garden of Kenmure was our playground. It was somewhere my imagination could run riot, as I was always close to history. I think probably that’s where my love of acting came from, imagining being Robert the Bruce or King Arthur.”

His mother, Chrissie, also instilled a creative streak. “She’s an artist and a papermaker, so I grew up surrounded by artisans. My uncle, Trevor, is a wicker weaver, creating incredible structures, such as a vast stag used on Outlander and the Wicker Man in the 2006 remake.” As well as fuelling Heughan’s imagination, his rural childhood forged an unbreakable bond with the outdoors. “A family friend was a keen salmon fisherman who taught me how to make my own flies, which I enjoyed doing. However, I was more into coarse fishing because I thought the fish were more exciting – pike, roach, perch, all predators, were somehow more interesting.”

Heughan also remembers sea-fishing off the Isle of Eigg in the Hebrides during the summer holidays. “Eigg is a tiny isle, with a single road and a handful of islanders. It’s a mystical place with rock pools full of crabs, golden beaches, sea eagles and dolphins to accompany your arrival. I even saw a humpback on a crossing to the isle as a boy.”

He continues: “My uncle worked as a gamekeeper, and I recall one occasion vividly: going out in his little rowboat with crab lines, tin foil on the hooks. We caught a dozen mackerel, which we cooked on the beach on a bonfire. It was amazing. I was obsessed with the crabs as well, which we’d catch on lines with limpets prised off the seashore rocks and boulders.”

Childhood memories of such fishing adventures recently surfaced when Heughan was asked to go fly-fishing on the River Deveron in Aberdeenshire. “I’m really excited about trying it this year – as well as buying all the accessories and gear, which I’m really into,” he laughs. “I was looking for something that I can do that’s relaxing and meditative. Maybe it’s an age thing but I thought: ‘How do I stop?’”

For a man who permanently selects sixth gear this is a revelation. “There was a moment when I was trout fishing in New Zealand while filming Men in Kilts in 2022. It was raining, I was standing in the river waist deep, the water so clear you could see the fish – it was such a weird experience but so peaceful and beautiful, and I thought: ‘I love this.’”

As another outlet away from Outlander, he hikes, climbs and bags Munros. I ask whether he has done any shooting. “I love clay shooting – it’s really fun. I wish I were better at it. I’m OK but not brilliant.” A confession that must grate with the highly competitive Scot. Or, of course, most likely a bluff. “At Gleneagles they’ve got an amazing range with different stands, including one that’s like a rabbit bouncing across the ground. I’m so bad at that one.”

There’s been a fair bit of guntoting on the set of Outlander, of course – particularly during the recreation of Culloden. “We used muskets, which are all flintlocks.” He sits forward eagerly. “And recently I bought myself a pair of mid-18th-century Scottish 22-bore flintlock belt pistols by John Murdoch, probably used in the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745,” he reveals before rushing off to find them. “I bought them at Bonhams,” he continues. “We used replicas on Outlander, so to have an original pair is incredibly special. Murdoch was based in Doune, which is the setting for Castle Leoch in the show. He was a master gunsmith, his pistols highly prized and presented to nobility and high-ranking officers in the military.

“A Scottish pistol reputedly fired the first shot in the American War of Independence,” Heughan tells me, offering a pistol for closer inspection. “They are made of steel, with scrolled ‘ram’s horn’ butts, ball triggers and elaborate Celtic engraving – I mean just look at that. These are belt hooks, so they sit on your belt like this.” He demonstrates, revealing the inner eight-year-old, alive and well, playing historical figures in the ruins of Kenmure. “That’s the thing about Scotland: the past is still very present,” he says.

To some he may be Jamie Fraser, a romantic hero conjured in the Highlands, but the real Sam Heughan was ‘hewn’ in the Lowlands and like the words engraved into his Outlander sword – Alba n’dulchas – he belongs to Scotland.

Sam Heughan’s award-winning Sassenach Gin, infused with foraged botanicals from Dumfries and Galloway where he grew up, is available now.