''Dòtaman'' (Scottish Gaelic for "spinning top") is the longest running

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

children's TV programme for pre-schoolers. It began 17 October 1985 starring Donnie Macleod, formerly of Na h-Òganaich, whose appearances made him a cult figure. Donnie was primarily the singer across the many series of the programme. The programme featured a presenter who carried the bulk of the programme presentation although Donnie shared some of the role, particularly when telling the time at the end of the programme.

Presenters

The presenters were: Donnie Macleod, Rhoda Macleod, Cathy Macdonald, John Urquhart, Gaelic singers Màiri MacInnes and Anna Murray also presented the programme. The first series also featured Anne Sinclair as the singer. She didn't wear hats and accompanied herself on a pink piano.

Premise

Donnie wore various different silly

hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...

s, which were decorated with something relevant to the song and the programme. Donnie was often seen wearing a default seagull hat when the theme didn't lend itself to be illustrated with a hat. Many of the hats were designed and constructed by costume designer Kirsty Colam. The programme featured 6

puppet A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or Legendary creature, mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. Puppetry is an ancient form of theatre which dates back to the 5th century BC in anci ...

s. Nelson and Napoleon are a pair of

parrot Parrots (Psittaciformes), also known as psittacines (), are birds with a strong curved beak, upright stance, and clawed feet. They are classified in four families that contain roughly 410 species in 101 genus (biology), genera, found mostly in ...

s who squawk their way through the 'what's the time' sequence at the end. Cagnaidh the

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the gray wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it was selectively bred from a population of wolves during the Late Pleistocene by hunter-gatherers. ...

and Crotal the

rabbit Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also includes the hares), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated ...

were usually involved with the activities at the opening of the programme. Oighrig the

hippo The hippopotamus (''Hippopotamus amphibius;'' ; : hippopotamuses), often shortened to hippo (: hippos), further qualified as the common hippopotamus, Nile hippopotamus and river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic Mammal, mammal native to su ...

and Ealasaid the

elephant Elephants are the largest living land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant ('' Loxodonta africana''), the African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''), and the Asian elephant ('' Elephas maximus ...

mainly sat about and listened to stories. The

song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

s were about everyday things that matter to children, while the style and structure of the songs were traditionally Gaelic. The songs were written to a pre-determined theme by a team of scriptwriters with each writer being responsible for a few programmes across the series. Both Donnie and some of the scriptwriters set the lyrics to music. Most of the songs related to Gaelic culture or Scottish rural life. The show's theme tune was "Scarecrow Wedding" by Bobby Heath, Eric Peters and Robert Hunter from the Spectrum Moods Library of which was previously used for the theme to '' The Further Adventures of Noddy'' (a standalone pilot based on

Enid Blyton Enid Mary Blyton (11 August 1897 – 28 November 1968) was an English children's writer, whose books have been worldwide bestsellers since the 1930s, selling more than 600 million copies. Her books are still enormously popular and have been tra ...

's books of the 'Toyland' series).

Influence

It could be argued that most young Gaelic speakers today learned much of their early vocabulary from the programme. Many young singers and musicians were influenced by the style of the music to write and play in their own tradition. Dòtaman is referenced in the 2019 song 'Fairytale of Stornoway' by Western isles band Peat and Diesel, featuring Mairead Fay Nicholson. The song is a reworked version of the Pogues classic 'Fairytale of New York' and is making a bid for Christmas Number 1.

References

Fairytale of Stornoway' Stornoway Gazette

External links

Clip on BBC Scotland

Scottish Gaelic mass media British television shows featuring puppetry 1985 Scottish television series debuts 1980s Scottish television series 1990s Scottish television series 2010s Scottish television series 1980s British children's television series 1990s British children's television series 2000s British children's television series 2010s British children's television series BBC Scotland television shows BBC children's television shows British preschool education television series 2000 Scottish television series endings {{UK-kids-tv-prog-stub

Presenters

Premise

Influence

See also

References

External links