Gilbert Dempster Fisher was a Scottish broadcaster, writer and naturalist who achieved prominence on BBC Scottish Radio as a naturalist under the persona of ‘the Hut Man’.

Life

Gilbert D. Fisher was born on 18th August 1906 at Bishopton, Renfrewshire

Bishopton, Renfrewshire

Bishopton is a large village in Renfrewshire, Scotland, a few miles west of Erskine.-Transport links:Bishopton sits a couple of miles from the southern end of the Erskine Bridge, which spans the River Clyde between Renfrewshire and West Dunbartonshire. Part way along the B815 road is a computer...

. His father was William Duncan Fisher, an accountant, and his mother Mary McEwan Dempster. In 1940, he married Ella Veitch Shaw in Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

 and they had a son named Jeremy. He died on 11th July 1985 at his home at North Berwick

North Berwick

The Royal Burgh of North Berwick is a seaside town in East Lothian, Scotland. It is situated on the south shore of the Firth of Forth, approximately 25 miles east of Edinburgh. North Berwick became a fashionable holiday resort in the 19th century because of its two sandy bays, the East Bay and the...

, East Lothian

East Lothian

East Lothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy Area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Scottish Borders and Midlothian. Its administrative centre is Haddington, although its largest town is Musselburgh....

.

Career

After school Fisher entered the business world and after ten years in business he retired to devote himself to nature studies. He was elected member of the British Ornithologists' Union

British Ornithologists' Union

The British Ornithologists' Union aims to encourage the study of birds in Britain, Europe and elsewhere, in order to understand their biology and to aid their conservation....

 in 1936. Around that year, he settled down in a hut in the moors north of the village of Lochwinnoch

Lochwinnoch

Lochwinnoch is a village in the council area and historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. Lying on the banks of Castle Semple Loch and the River Calder, Lochwinnoch is chiefly a residential dormitory village serving nearby urban centres such as Glasgow and Paisley...

 in Renfrewshire

Renfrewshire

Renfrewshire is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfrewshire, the others being Inverclyde to the west and East Renfrewshire to the east...

. He published The Hut Man's Book in 1938, and it was re-published as a Puffin Story Book

Puffin Books

Puffin Books is the children's imprint of British publishers Penguin Books. Since the 1960s it has been the largest publisher of children's books in the UK and much of the English-speaking world.-Early history:...

 in 1950. During the 1939-45 war, he apparently joined the Royal Air Force

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

. According to the London Gazette

London Gazette

The London Gazette is one of the official journals of record of the British government, and the most important among such official journals in the United Kingdom, in which certain statutory notices are required to be published...

, on 11th September 1941, he was promoted from Acting Flying Officer to Flying Officer on probation. His radio broadcasts under the persona of the Hut Man began on the BBC Home Service

BBC Home Service

The BBC Home Service was a British national radio station which broadcast from 1939 until 1967.-Development:Between the 1920s and the outbreak of The Second World War, the BBC had developed two nationwide radio services, the BBC National Programme and the BBC Regional Programme...

 in Scotland on Monday 12th January 1948 at 5.25pm. The programme on Children's Hour

Children's Hour

Children's Hour—at first: "The Children's Hour", from a verse by Longfellow—was the name of the BBC's principal recreational service for children during the period when radio dominated broadcasting....

 was called 'Hut-Country Walks' and it featured two children exploring the Hut Country with the Hut Man. It was later called 'Exploring the Hut Country' and was broadcast every month or so. This 'Hut Country' programme was very popular and he used his celebrity status to pioneer nature studies in Scottish schools. For example, in April 1954, he visited Belmont School Camp near Meigle

Meigle

Meigle is a village in Strathmore, Scotland. It lies in the council area of Perth and Kinross in the Coupar Angus and Meigle ward. The nearest town is Forfar in neighbouring Angus. Other smaller settlements nearby are Balkeerie, Kirkinch and Kinloch. Meigle is accessed from the north and south...

, Perthshire

Perthshire

Perthshire, officially the County of Perth , is a registration county in central Scotland. It extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, Rannoch Moor and Ben Lui in the west, and Aberfoyle in the south...

 for several days and gave nature talks to the assembled children. He also organised a Nature Study Club and took the members on natural history

Natural history

Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...

 tours of the surrounding countryside. The last 'Exploring the Hut Country' programme was broadcast on 19th June 1956 at 5pm. Fisher's broadcast career ended in 1956 when he was appointed director-secretary of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland

Royal Zoological Society of Scotland

The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland is a learned society and registered charity of Scotland. It was founded by an Edinburgh lawyer, Thomas Hailing Gillespie, in 1909. In 1913, a large plot of land was purchased for the Society by the Edinburgh Town Council on Corstorphine Hill, Edinburgh a...

. He was effectively in charge of Edinburgh Zoo

Edinburgh Zoo

Edinburgh Zoo, formally the Scottish National Zoological Park, is a non-profit zoological park located in Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland...

 until he retired in 1971.

Publications

• A Number of Things: Verses for children. Drawn and decorated by E. V. Shaw. Edinburgh & London: Moray Press, 1935.
• The Hut Man's Book, Illustrated by E. V. Shaw, (1) Hardback - Edinburgh & London: W. & R. Chambers, 1938. (2) Paperback - Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1950 (Puffin Story Book, no. 58.)
  
• Adventure in the Hut Country, Illustrated by E. V. Shaw, Edinburgh: W. & R. Chambers, 1939
  
• Hut Country Days. Scraperboard drawings by James Lucas. London: Sylvan Press, 1948.
• Your Nature Book. London: Sylvan Press: London, 1949.
  
• Exploring the Hut Country. Edinburgh & London: W. & R. Chambers, 1952
  
• Children's Book of British Birds , Edinburgh & London: W. & R. Chambers, 1952.
  
• The Teacher's Book of Nature Study. With three lessons on the sea-shore written and illustrated by John Smyth. Edinburgh & London: W. & R. Chambers, 1958
  
• Guide to the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland's Park at Edinburgh. Edinburgh: Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, 195?]