Alasdair Hutton – författare

This extensive collection of Scots nursery rhymes and lullabies ranges from ancient to the modern day. They are sorted by suitable age ranges, and contextualising notes and word definitions are added when necessary. Contains black and white illustrations throughout by highly regarded artist Bob Dewar.

Meet Morag, a kind-hearted witch on a magical adventure in the enchanted woodlands of Abbotsford!When the wicked leader of her coven plots to kidnap the local children, Morag must use her magic and bravery to stop the evil scheme. With a race against time and surrounded by darkness, Morag sets out to rescue the children and bring peace back to Abbotsford.Will she succeed in overcoming the evil powers and saving the day?Find out in this thrilling tale of courage and magic!

The story begins with the fox’s journey from the Borders and her arrival in Edinburgh, at the end of the Tattoo. She hears about the event but doesn’t know what it is and throughout the book asks other characters to tell her. As she settles in to life in Edinburgh she has several adventures and meets a sniffer dog, a wise cat and a dog fox with whom she settles in to the den and has a family. The family watch the tattoo every night and after the final performance the tattoo fox follows the soldiers out of the castle, her tail in the air.

After joining the soldiers marching in the Tattoo, the Tattoo Fox and her friend Castle Cat accidentally end up aboard a truck and have to find their way back to Edinburgh. Upon her return, Tattoo Fox is reunited with her kits and continues to explore the capital of Scotland, witnessing even more fantastic sights like at the zoo, the Funfair, Murrayfield, Craigmillar Castle and the Thistle Parade. On their journey back through Edinburgh, the Tattoo Fox makes several new friends, including a dog fox, a border terrier, a squirrel and a hare. The Fox’s adventures once again end at the Tattoo, where she must save the day in order to take her place in the procession, this time with her kits by her side.

The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo is one of the greatest shows on earth. Around 220,000 people attend each year. It is seen on TV by a further 100 million.Alasdair Hutton is the Voice of the Tattoo.This book is the story of the Tattoo, told by the Narrator and prefaced by a short history of tattoos pre-Edinburgh and a history of the Tattoo pre-Alasdair.With an ever-changing cast of over 1,000 performers, each year’s show is unique. Some elements remain unchanged – the spine-tingling Lone Piper playing on the Castle ramparts, the cacophony of sound that is the closing massed pipes and drums, the welcoming voice of Alasdair Hutton as you arrive.Ladies and gentlemen, take your seats, the Greatest Show on Earth is about to begin.For the last 25 years, Alasdair Hutton has told our story to each of our audiences since he started in 1992 – a total live audience of over 5 million people. Not only has he been behind the microphone without fail, in Edinburgh and when we have taken the show abroad, but he has also researched and written the script. Alasdair’s most precious talents are his voice, his sense of timing and his feel for occasion. Alasdair Hutton is above all one of life’s great gentlemen. Not only is he impeccably polite but he has great charisma, values and a wonderful sense of purpose. This book, which is Alasdair’s own story – only a small part of it! – gives a sense of the huge contribution he has made to the remarkable institution of the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. From the foreword by brigadier David Allfrey