Dòtaman

Dòtaman (Scottish Gaelic for "spinning top") was the first Scottish Gaelic children's TV programme for pre-schoolers. It began 17 October 1985 and was written by and starred Donnie Macleod, formerly of Na h-Oganaich.

Hats

Donnie had a different silly hat for every song, with something relevant to the song on it. One of his most famous was a hat with a red telephone on it.^[1]

Songs

The songs were about things every day to the children watching while the style and structure of the songs were traditionally Gaelic.

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.

Travia

in the 1970's the 'Dotaman' theme tune used for the Intro of The Further Adventures Of Noddy (a series based on Enid Blyton's books of the 'Toyland' series) of only its episode 'Great Car Race' appeared on the Children's TV Favourites video in 1987.

References

1. ^ http://www.houseofscotland.org/class.html

External links

• Clip on BBC Scotland
• Gaelic Class