Tributes have been paid to the last remaining Alexander Brother who has died at the age of 85.

Tom Alexander was one half of the enduring traditional Scottish folk duo who toured the world in a career spanning more than 50 years.

Tom and his 79-year-old brother Jack, who died in 2013, toured as the Alexander Brothers for more than 50 years and were among the most popular Scottish musical entertainers.

While their style owed more to the variety theatre than the folk club, they enjoyed success not just in their home country, but in Canada, the US, Australia and New Zealand as well.

Their style owed much to performers such as Kenneth McKellar and Andy Stewart, dressing in kilts and happily mixing Scottish folk songs with popular tunes, accompanied on the accordion.

The Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame describe their record sales as "phenomenal" having at one point in the 1960s even outselling the Beatles in Scotland.

The pair, from Cambusnethan in North Lanarkshire, were awarded MBEs for services to entertainment in the 2005 New Year Honours List.

Ayr 's Gaiety Theatre, where the pair had performed, paid tribute to the entertainer on Facebook.

It said: "One of our legendary performers from the Gaiety's golden era of show-business, Tom Alexander, has sadly passed away.

"Tom will be greatly missed, and our sincere condolences and love go out to his family, friends, and fans."

The brothers' father, Jimmy, was a steelworker, their mother, Helen, was a singer and pianist, and the family often gathered round the piano to sing.

They performed at the Sydney Opera House alongside Jimmy Shand and at Carnegie Hall in New York. Charlton Heston was said to be a big fan.

Alongside Stewart and Scottish country dancers, they performed on the BBC's The White Heather Club, and hosted their own shows on Scottish Television (STV) Their first album, Highland Fling in 1962 included standard Scottish songs such as Scotland the Brave and Mairi's Wedding.

But later albums included songs from beyond Scotland, given a Scottish "accent" lilt.

Their version of the Hank Snow song Nobody's Child, released in 1964, was reported to have sold more copies in Scotland that year than the Beatles did.

They performed alongside Shirley Bassey on the television variety show Sunday Night at the London Palladium and by 1965 had been given their own show on STV.

Buoyed by sales in Scotland, their 1966 album These Are My Mountains, named after one of Jack's most popular songs, reached number 29 in the UK album chart.

By the 1980s, the brothers were familiar faces on STV's Hogmanay celebrations, and they also appeared on Shindig, where Jack's medleys of folk songs, such as The Barnyards of Delgaty and The Mucking of Geordie's Byre, were popular.