Historic Ally takes us on a tour

From a young age, Ally has been fascinated by History which has now come full circle with him offering his tours, via a postgraduate degree in History at Dundee.   

“I grew up in a wee village about ten miles north of Dundee. It’s called Newbigging. I was always interested in history, music, stories and the like, and Newbigging was a place that really nurtured those interests. My granny and grandad were right into Burns’ poetry, into singing folk songs and telling old stories, the folk history of the place. As I grew up, I became a dedicated reader and spent most nights with a good historical book,” Ally shared.   

“I took a long time to get to university. Instead, I worked in New Zealand and later the Republic of Georgia, spending time labouring, travelling and teaching English. I always maintained a keen interest in history and would visit many historical places along the way. I did an undergraduate in History with French and Gaelic at Aberdeen, starting at the age of 24. I worked in Amsterdam for a year after graduating and used the time there to write my first 60-minute BBC documentary, a travelogue through Scotland that looked at the Scots Language.”   

Ally's Historic Tours

Indeed, Ally is a familiar voice and face on the BBC. And it was through the Scottish Traditional Music Awards, the idea of Ally’s Historic Tours came about.   

“These days I talk about history and culture on the tele and radio. Over the last few years, I’ve regularly hosted BBC’s Burns Night coverage, as well as the Scottish Traditional Music Awards every December on BBC Alba, which has been great fun, and has put me in the way of further interesting work,” he explained.   

“The idea of the tours actually came from working at the Traditional Music Awards. Every year I’m seeing all these amazing acts, this vibrant culture, then seeing the poor fare that tourists are offered up when they come to Edinburgh. 

We tour around and meet traditional musicians, Gaelic speakers, Scots storytellers, and we do it at a pace that lets folk really get to know where they are and what they’re seeing. The ambition is to build real lasting cultural connections between Scotland the world.”   

The Dundee connection

Ally’s love of his history is clear. It was when this passion collided with another of his loves, Dundee United, during the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to Ally matriculating at Dundee. These two experiences of broadcasting with Dundee United every week and studying Public History at Dundee have been the key underpinnings of his career.  

“Covid saw me relocate to Dundee. I had received the offer of a lifetime: present the match day coverage for Dundee United Football Club. Covid restrictions meant that fans were not allowed in the stadium, so we had to make a weekly show from the stadium for all the fans locked down at home. It was high pressure, but what a privilege to serve my football club like that. Whilst working for United, I signed up for a masters in History at Dundee. It was life-changing”, Ally said.   

“We studied the rigorous side of academic history – interrogating sources, combing archives, engaging in academic debate – but the course also introduced us to ‘Public History’. That is the term for finding ways to communicate history to wider publics." 

Campus and city highlights

When we met Ally at the Top of the Tower café and surveyed the Dundee skyline, we were excited to hear Ally’s own highlights of campus and Dundee.   

"On Campus, easy: I love the library. Even on busy days there’s such a sense of peace and quiet there, and the history book section is incredible. I still have an alumni library card so I can go and study there when I’m researching for TV shows. 

“The best spot in Dundee is my brother’s coffee and doughnut van, Heather Street Food, down at the V&A by the waterfront. It makes me really proud seeing all the happy families and visitors to Dundee getting one of his fresh doughnuts and chilling in the sun by that beautiful river.”  

We can’t argue with that!   

Campus tour

Take a look at Ally’s unique tour of our city campus in the video below.