Alan Bruford (1937–1995)

[excerpt from Tobar an Dualchais website]
Alan James Bruford was born and brought up in Edinburgh. Following his early education at Edinburgh Academy and Winchester College, Alan Bruford chose to read History and Anglo-Saxon at St John's College Cambridge, after which he returned to Edinburgh to earn his PhD. Bruford was appointed to the School of Scottish Studies as its permanent Archivist, responsible for accessioning and documenting the field recordings made by the School's researchers, which he did with a meticulous gusto. However, he also took upon himself the further roles of fieldworker and researcher. In addition to his work in the Gaelic-speaking communities of the Mainland and the Southern Hebrides, Bruford also carried out work in strong Gaelic-speaking communities in the Outer Hebrides and Skye.

In 1971, Bruford co-founded the journal 'Tocher' as a medium for disseminating findings from the School's research to the wider public, and he would remain its editor for the next three decades. In the same year, the School of Scottish Studies became a teaching institution, and Alan became one of its most gifted lecturers and post-graduate supervisors.

An annual commemorative public lecture in his honour, focussing on his major love of folk narrative, was inaugurated by the School of Scottish Studies on the first anniversary of his passing, and continues to this day.