Dr Sandy Tulloch (1918 – 19th January 2006)
by Tom Clark (Dundee) & Ian Thomson (Fife)
B&F March 2006
A large crowd of people from many different parts of the country were gathered at the Dundee Crematorium on Wednesday 25th January to pay their respects and final tribute to Sandy Tulloch, one of the best known personalities of the Scottish music scene over many years.
It is difficult to know just where to begin to tell the story of this man who was so talented in so many ways. I first met Sandy around about 1954, shortly after he came to Dundee to take up his post as Consultant Eye Specialist. We met through a mutual friend, George McKelvie, accordionist in the famous Shand Band. For a number of years we played for Scottish dancing in the Dundee area. (Sometimes we enlisted members of the Shand Band when available). Sandy was always meticulously fussy, even at that time, about the tunes we were playing. Everything he did had to be done to the best he was capable of, something I would come to appreciate more as I came to know him better. At that time when I first came to know Sandy, I was a young engineering apprentice and believed that I knew something about the business – that was until I discovered how much of an expert engineer Sandy was. His engineering workshop in the attic was worth seeing.
Lathe, drilling machine, planning machine, gear cutting etc. He was an expert model maker and when he decided to make a model of a particular ship, for example, everything had to be an exact scale copy of the original, even to obtaining materials such as timber from the same source as the original. Some of his models were on display in Dundee Museum.
Sandy’s creative skills extended to fiddle making. Angus Fitchet was so taken by one of them that he wrote a tune for Sandy – a polka, Sandy’s New Fiddle.
I think Sandy’s interest in Scottish music was due mainly to his association with Sir Jimmy Shand. They met in the old Forbes’ Music Shop, off Victoria Road in Dundee, when Jimmy was an accordion demonstrator. The friendship between them and their families was to last a lifetime, and after Jimmy’s death Sandy became Chairman of the Sir Jimmy Shand Sculpture Project which raised more than £40,000 to erect the bronze statue of Sir Jimmy in his home town of Auchtermuchty.
Arguably, Sandy’s greatest contribution to the music was when being the unofficial librarian for band leaders. After retiring he seemed to pour himself into this, cataloguing and recording every detail. I doubt if there is a band leaders who hasn’t over the years made us of Sandy’s knowledge and detailed information. All that was needed was to whistle a tune over the phone and he would give the name of the tune, composer and publisher. Sometimes there was a story attached to the tune – he would give that as well.
In his ‘spare time’ Sandy was a regular hill walker and sometimes a climber to Munro height. He was an honorary life member of the Dundee Western Club, and I had the pleasure of playing with him at their annual Burns Suppers for more than 40 years until shortly before his death.
Sandy seemed to manage to fit in all his activities even when still a very busy eye specialist.
Sandy was born in Montrose, educated at Montrose Academy and St Andrew’s University, where he graduated in medicine. He served in the R.A.M.C. during the war. After demob he spent some time in Glasgow where he was eye specialist from Argyll and the Isles before returning to Dundee as consultant eye specialist.
Sandy is survived by his daughters Morag, Kay and Joan and son Sandy. There are 10 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. So he also made his contribution to society in general!
Sandy will always be remembered with respect by all of us who were privileged to have known him. This photograph hangs framed on the wall in the Eye Department at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee. A fitting memorial to a man of seemingly limitless talents.
Tom Clark (Dundee)
Dr Alexander K. Tulloch MB, ChB, DOMS. Retired eye consultant, late of Dundee and known to many as Sandy Tulloch, died on 19th January 2006. His funeral service was attended by a very large number of mourners, including many well-kmown faces from the Scottish Dance band scene, which illustrated how highly respected he was in many parts of the country. Sandy was born in Montrose and won a bursary for St Andrew’s University to study medicine, in particular ophthalmology. After graduating, his first post was at Maryfield Hospital, Dundee but he joined the Royal Army Medical Corps at the beginning of World War Two when he served as a Captain in both France and Germany till his release from service in 1946. He then took up the position of eye consultant, covering Argyll and the Inner Isles prior to his move to Dundee in 1953. With the opening of Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, Sandy became the Senior Eye Consultant, a post he held till his early retirement in 1981 which he took to nurse his wife Dorothy, who sadly died in 1983.
From an early age Sandy had taken a great interest in Scottish accordion music. He was a great exponent of the 3-row Shand Morino, both as a player and in his knowledge of the instrument, possessing one of the first instruments brought into this country. Sandy was a very close friend of Jimmy Shand, a friendship that started way back in the early forties, and Jimmy was often heard paying tribute to Sandy’s skill both as a player and his knowledge of Scottish dance music. Many danceband leader’s were grateful for Sandy’s help when preparing the contents of a broadcast. He derived great pleasure from ‘sitting in’ with various dance bands playing at dances e.g. Sir Jimmy Shand, Jimmy Shand Jnr, Ian Cruickshank, Ian Holmes, Bruce Lindsay, Jim MacKay and Fergie MacDonald to name but a few.
Because of his long association with Sir Jimmy, Sandy readily accepted the Chair of the Sir Jimmy Shand Sculpture Project. He was instrumental in helping other musicians raise funds for charity and helped Jimmy Shand Jnr with the Tribute Concerts in St Andrews in memory of his father.
Windygates Button-Key Accordion and Fiddle club, of which Sandy was an Honorary member who opened every Club night by leading the other players in a stramash, will miss his presence.
Dr. Sandy Tulloch will be greatly missed in the Scottish Accordion and Fiddle Club scene, but the Tulloch name will continue, as Sandy is survived by three daughters, a son, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, some of whom are musically talented.
Ian Thomson (Fife)
It is difficult to know just where to begin to tell the story of this man who was so talented in so many ways. I first met Sandy around about 1954, shortly after he came to Dundee to take up his post as Consultant Eye Specialist. We met through a mutual friend, George McKelvie, accordionist in the famous Shand Band. For a number of years we played for Scottish dancing in the Dundee area. (Sometimes we enlisted members of the Shand Band when available). Sandy was always meticulously fussy, even at that time, about the tunes we were playing. Everything he did had to be done to the best he was capable of, something I would come to appreciate more as I came to know him better. At that time when I first came to know Sandy, I was a young engineering apprentice and believed that I knew something about the business – that was until I discovered how much of an expert engineer Sandy was. His engineering workshop in the attic was worth seeing.
Lathe, drilling machine, planning machine, gear cutting etc. He was an expert model maker and when he decided to make a model of a particular ship, for example, everything had to be an exact scale copy of the original, even to obtaining materials such as timber from the same source as the original. Some of his models were on display in Dundee Museum.
Sandy’s creative skills extended to fiddle making. Angus Fitchet was so taken by one of them that he wrote a tune for Sandy – a polka, Sandy’s New Fiddle.
I think Sandy’s interest in Scottish music was due mainly to his association with Sir Jimmy Shand. They met in the old Forbes’ Music Shop, off Victoria Road in Dundee, when Jimmy was an accordion demonstrator. The friendship between them and their families was to last a lifetime, and after Jimmy’s death Sandy became Chairman of the Sir Jimmy Shand Sculpture Project which raised more than £40,000 to erect the bronze statue of Sir Jimmy in his home town of Auchtermuchty.
Arguably, Sandy’s greatest contribution to the music was when being the unofficial librarian for band leaders. After retiring he seemed to pour himself into this, cataloguing and recording every detail. I doubt if there is a band leaders who hasn’t over the years made us of Sandy’s knowledge and detailed information. All that was needed was to whistle a tune over the phone and he would give the name of the tune, composer and publisher. Sometimes there was a story attached to the tune – he would give that as well.
In his ‘spare time’ Sandy was a regular hill walker and sometimes a climber to Munro height. He was an honorary life member of the Dundee Western Club, and I had the pleasure of playing with him at their annual Burns Suppers for more than 40 years until shortly before his death.
Sandy seemed to manage to fit in all his activities even when still a very busy eye specialist.
Sandy was born in Montrose, educated at Montrose Academy and St Andrew’s University, where he graduated in medicine. He served in the R.A.M.C. during the war. After demob he spent some time in Glasgow where he was eye specialist from Argyll and the Isles before returning to Dundee as consultant eye specialist.
Sandy is survived by his daughters Morag, Kay and Joan and son Sandy. There are 10 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. So he also made his contribution to society in general!
Sandy will always be remembered with respect by all of us who were privileged to have known him. This photograph hangs framed on the wall in the Eye Department at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee. A fitting memorial to a man of seemingly limitless talents.
Tom Clark (Dundee)
Dr Alexander K. Tulloch MB, ChB, DOMS. Retired eye consultant, late of Dundee and known to many as Sandy Tulloch, died on 19th January 2006. His funeral service was attended by a very large number of mourners, including many well-kmown faces from the Scottish Dance band scene, which illustrated how highly respected he was in many parts of the country. Sandy was born in Montrose and won a bursary for St Andrew’s University to study medicine, in particular ophthalmology. After graduating, his first post was at Maryfield Hospital, Dundee but he joined the Royal Army Medical Corps at the beginning of World War Two when he served as a Captain in both France and Germany till his release from service in 1946. He then took up the position of eye consultant, covering Argyll and the Inner Isles prior to his move to Dundee in 1953. With the opening of Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, Sandy became the Senior Eye Consultant, a post he held till his early retirement in 1981 which he took to nurse his wife Dorothy, who sadly died in 1983.
From an early age Sandy had taken a great interest in Scottish accordion music. He was a great exponent of the 3-row Shand Morino, both as a player and in his knowledge of the instrument, possessing one of the first instruments brought into this country. Sandy was a very close friend of Jimmy Shand, a friendship that started way back in the early forties, and Jimmy was often heard paying tribute to Sandy’s skill both as a player and his knowledge of Scottish dance music. Many danceband leader’s were grateful for Sandy’s help when preparing the contents of a broadcast. He derived great pleasure from ‘sitting in’ with various dance bands playing at dances e.g. Sir Jimmy Shand, Jimmy Shand Jnr, Ian Cruickshank, Ian Holmes, Bruce Lindsay, Jim MacKay and Fergie MacDonald to name but a few.
Because of his long association with Sir Jimmy, Sandy readily accepted the Chair of the Sir Jimmy Shand Sculpture Project. He was instrumental in helping other musicians raise funds for charity and helped Jimmy Shand Jnr with the Tribute Concerts in St Andrews in memory of his father.
Windygates Button-Key Accordion and Fiddle club, of which Sandy was an Honorary member who opened every Club night by leading the other players in a stramash, will miss his presence.
Dr. Sandy Tulloch will be greatly missed in the Scottish Accordion and Fiddle Club scene, but the Tulloch name will continue, as Sandy is survived by three daughters, a son, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, some of whom are musically talented.
Ian Thomson (Fife)