Hairy Maclary a New Zealander with Scottish Roots

Despite being one of Scotland’s most iconic children’s books, it has been revealed to the Scots that Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy is actually from New Zealand, Lisa Hodge reports for Edinburgh Live.

“The beloved rhyming books featuring the terrier have sold thousands of copies north of the border with families everywhere loving the little Scottish dog,” Hodge writes in the article.

“However, a recent interview with author Dame Lynley Dodd shared that the tale is from and set in New Zealand.”

Speaking to The Spinoff, Dodd said: “I’m sorry, the book is a New Zealand book. Hairy Maclary has got a Scottish ancestry, in fact he’s got bits of Scottish terrier really, hasn’t he, in him. And so, you know, he’s a New Zealander with Scots background, like me.”

Published in 1983, many a Scots generation have loved the stories of Hairy and his friends, and according to the Glasgow-based Daily Record, it is even mentioned on Education Scotland’s website as a Scottish story parents should read to children.

Original article by Lisa Hodge, Edinburgh Live, September 9, 2021.