Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Town crier cries his last as tributes paid to Lossiemouth legend

Lossiemouth Town Crier Alan Nicholls who is challenging  Kilwinning crier John Smith to a battle after he claimed he was the only town crier in Scotland.

Pic by Helen Osler/Northscot
Lossiemouth Town Crier Alan Nicholls who is challenging Kilwinning crier John Smith to a battle after he claimed he was the only town crier in Scotland. Pic by Helen Osler/Northscot

He was a man with one of the most unusual roles in Scotland and whose work quite literally cried out for recognition.

Alan Nicholls, who has died aged 83, took on the role as town crier in Lossiemouth and joined a very select group of just three people in Scotland.

Lossiemouth Town Crier Alan Nicholls

A retired postman, Mr Nicholls was also a member of the Lossiemouth Community Council for many years. And it was it that organisation which paid him a retainer and allowed him to go about his duties in the coastal town, entertaining locals and becoming a regular fixture at all manner of local events.

Chairman of the Lossiemouth Community Council, Mike Mulholland, yesterday hailed Mr Nicholls as a “brilliant” personality, who lit up his environs.


>> Keep up to date with the latest news with The P&J newsletter


He said: “He was a great character and added a lot of colour and fun to the community.

“Our thoughts go out to his friends and family at this sad time.”

Mr Nicholls spent a decade as the town’s dedicated and first officially-paid herald and retired from his duties at the age of 75 in 2010.

Prior to that, he was a familiar sight and sound at Lossiemouth’s annual events, from the raft race to the Christmas lights switch-on.

It made him a true one-off in his community and he did it for the camaraderie and commitment to his roots rather than for the salary – of one guinea a year.

The former marine even paid for the town crier costume himself, and the handbell he used to ring was presented to the town by the Pistra family who ran the former Huntly House Hotel in Lossiemouth.

Alan Nicholls

Further tributes flooded in online, with Lynne Russell posting: “Aw, my boys loved seeing him in the town when they were growing up.

“Condolences to his family. He was a lovely man.”

Fran Mitchell posted: “So sad, we stayed in the same street, lovely man.”

Mr Nicholls was a member of the Ancient and Honourable Guild of Town Criers and once challenged a fellow crier to a battle.

He laid out the challenge to Kilwinning crier John Smith after the latter claimed to be the only town crier in the country.