The son of beloved north-east broadcaster and columnist Robbie Shepherd has paid tribute to his father who has died aged 87.
Gordon Shepherd, was speaking from his parents home, and described what his father meant to the family.
“We are all very proud of everything he has achieved and we will miss him dearly,” said Gordon, who works in finance in London.
Gordon, father to Dougie, 9, and Rose, 4, said details of his father’s funeral, to which all are welcome, will be made public in the coming days.
“I certainly did not inherit my father’s musical abilities. He had his roots in Dunecht where his father was a shoemaker and was educated at the local school. It was his academic aptitude that gained him a bursary to Robert Gordon’s College in Aberdeen,” said Gordon.
Robbie Shepherd was regarded as Doric royalty but equally at ease in the presence of monarchs.
For more than four decades he was the authentic voice of the Braemar Gathering; relaxed and apparently unfazed by the exalted company.
He also won the hearts of the nation for his Saturday night broadcasts of Take the Floor on BBC Radio Scotland.
It is a measure of the affection in which he was held that his programme got a mention during the funeral of former Scotland manager Craig Brown last week.
A local champion, Robbie was truly a local hero rooted in Aberdeenshire and proud to help keep alive the Doric language of his forebears.
His use of his native tongue was not forced. It is what he grew up speaking and made him so familiar and accessible.
Robbie was even parodied by a rival radio station in Aberdeen many years ago in a slot called Radio Fit Like but the old master outpaced and outlasted his pretender.
He did so through a combination of professionalism and hard work. You don’t stay at the top of broadcasting and the media for four decades without these qualities.
But Robbie made it look easy. His Saturday night broadcasts chimed and were timed perfectly with the weekend gatherings many of his audience had grown up with.
You could be forgiven for imagining he had spent the afternoon at a feein’ market before returning to a bothy for a knees up.
National appeal
While rooted in the north-east he understood wider Scottish tastes which ensured the popularity of Take The Floor, which he presented until 2016.
Of course, he was not just a broadcaster. Robbie had a deep hinterland in Scottish music. He grew up listening to Jimmy Shand and Kenneth McKellar and soon learnt to accompany them on the mouthie.
In his younger years he played in a band backing Calum Kennedy before becoming a sought-after compere at musical shows.
His relaxed style, or rather his genuine style, saw him begin to compere at Braemar in his warm Doric tones rather than the Queen’s English. Not that the Queen minded. It was what she came to expect and seemed to enjoy at the September gathering.
She even made him an MBE in 2001 for his services to Scottish music and culture; one of a clutch of awards he was given.
It was music that brought Robbie and his future wife, Esma together. He was working as an accountant in Aberdeen in the 1950s and it was on bus journeys from his home village of Dunecht that he got chatting to Esma, a shorthand typist.
She was a talented pianist and the two found common ground in music. They went on to have a son, Gordon.
Marriage
The pair were married at Cluny on September 23 1961. Robbie was 25 on the
special day and Esma was 21.
Robbie always described himself as a Dunecht lad. He was educated in the village and won a bursary to Robert Gordon’s College, Aberdeen, before starting work as an accountant aged 15.
In his leisure time he played with The Garlogie Four and began compering at highland games.
This led to broadcasting slots on Radio Aberdeen and, in 1982, he took over from David Findlay as presenter of Take the Floor.
University honour
Robbie had hoped to study at Aberdeen University but when his father took ill he opted to work instead so, in 2001, he was particularly proud to receive an honorary degree from Aberdeen University.
The author of several books, Robbie also presented BBC’s The Reel Blend, had a spell at the Beechgrove Garden and presented sheepdpog trials.
He was also hugely popular as a Press and Journal columnist which he began writing in Doric in 1993 and continued to contribute until last month.
A Take The Floor tribute to Robbie Shepherd is due to be broadcast by the BBC this weekend.