HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Donald Macintosh (1743–1808) was a Scottish clergyman, a nonjuror of the
Scottish Episcopal Church The Scottish Episcopal Church ( gd, Eaglais Easbaigeach na h-Alba; sco, Scots Episcopal(ian) Kirk) is the ecclesiastical province of the Anglican Communion in Scotland. A continuation of the Church of Scotland as intended by King James VI, and ...
, known as a scholar of
Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...
.


Life

Born at Orchilmore, near
Killiecrankie Killiecrankie (; ( gd, Coille Chreithnich, meaning aspen wood) is a village in Perth and Kinross, Scotland on the River Garry. It lies at the Pass of Killiecrankie, by the A9 road which has been bypassed since 1986. The village is home to a ...
,
Perthshire Perthshire (locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, ...
, Macintosh was son of a cooper and
crofter A croft is a fenced or enclosed area of land, usually small and arable, and usually, but not always, with a crofter's dwelling thereon. A crofter is one who has tenure and use of the land, typically as a tenant farmer, especially in rural area ...
. After attending the parish school, and acting for some time as a teacher, he went to
Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
. In 1774 he was acting as one of Peter Williamson's penny postmen; he next found employment as a copying clerk, and was subsequently tutor in the family of Stewart of Gairntully. For some years from 1785 he was employed in the office of Mr. Davidson, deputy-keeper of the signet and crown agent. On 30 November 1786 Macintosh was elected to the honorary office of clerk for the Gaelic language to the
Society of Antiquaries of Scotland The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland is the senior antiquarian body of Scotland, with its headquarters in the National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh. The Society's aim is to promote the cultural heritage of Scotland. The usua ...
, and held it until 1789. In 1789
James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...
, the sole representative of the nonjuring episcopal clergy of Scotland, made Macintosh as his successor, ordaining him deacon in June 1789, and later priest. Macintosh appears for a time to have had no fixed residence, moving from place to place. He finally settled in Edinburgh, but made an annual tour through the Perthshire highlands as far north as
Banff, Aberdeenshire Banff ( gd, Banbh) is a town in the Banff and Buchan area of Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is situated on Banff Bay and faces the town of Macduff across the estuary of the River Deveron. It is a former royal burgh, and is the county town of the ...
, ministering to the small remnant who accepted his pastoral authority. In 1794 Macintosh unsuccessfully raised an action in the court of session against the managers of the fund for the relief of poor Scottish episcopal clergymen, who had deprived him of his salary. In 1801 he was chosen Gaelic translator and keeper of Gaelic records to the
Highland Society of Scotland The Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland (RHASS) was founded in Edinburgh in 1784 as the Highland Society of Edinburgh. The Society had its root in 1723 when the Society of Improvers of the Knowledge of Agriculture in Scotland was ...
, with a salary. He died unmarried at Edinburgh on 22 November 1808, the last representative of the nonjuring Scottish Episcopal church, and was buried in Greyfriars churchyard.


Legacy

Macintosh's library of books and manuscripts, numbering about 2,000 volumes, he bequeathed to the town of
Dunkeld Dunkeld (, sco, Dunkell, from gd, Dùn Chailleann, "fort of the Caledonians") is a town in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. The location of a historic cathedral, it lies on the north bank of the River Tay, opposite Birnam. Dunkeld lies close to t ...
. The books were kept together as The Macintosh Library, and additions were made; but the manuscripts may not have gone to Dunkeld.


Works

Macintosh was compiler of ''A Collection of Gaelic Proverbs and Familiar Phrases; . . . with an English Translation . . . illustrated with Notes. To which is added The Way to Wealth, by Dr. Franklin, translated into Gaelic'', Edinburgh, 1785. It was the first collection of Celtic proverbs. The translation of
Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...
's ''Way to Wealth'' was by Robert Macfarlane, an Edinburgh schoolmaster, for the
Earl of Buchan The Mormaer () or Earl of Buchan () was originally the provincial ruler of the medieval province of Buchan. Buchan was the first Mormaerdom in the High Medieval Kingdom of the Scots to pass into the hands of a non-Scottish family in the male li ...
, to whom the book is dedicated. A second edition was made by Alexander Campbell (1819). Another collection, based on Macintosh's, was published under the editorship of
Alexander Nicolson Alexander Nicolson (1827–1893) was a Scottish lawyer and man of letters, known as a Gaelic scholar and sheriff-substitute of Kirkcudbright and Greenock, and as a pioneer of mountain climbing in Scotland. Life The son of Malcolm Nicolson, he w ...
(1881, and again in 1882).
Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'', ''Rob Roy (n ...
drew liberally on Macintosh's work for the Gaelicized phraseology of the character Evan Dhu Maccombich in ''
Waverley Waverley may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Waverley'' (novel), by Sir Walter Scott ** ''Waverley'' Overture, a work by Hector Berlioz inspired by Scott's novel * Waverley Harrison, a character in the New Zealand soap opera ''Shortland Stree ...
'' (1814).Leask, Nigel (2020), ''Stepping Westward:Writing the Highland Tour c.1720 - 1830'', Oxford University Press, p. 244 The catalogues of Gaelic manuscripts belonging to the Highland Society, and others given in vol. iii. of the London Highland Society's ''Ossian'', were compiled by Macintosh, who also transcribed some of the manuscripts. He collected old poetry; a piece from
Lochaber Lochaber ( ; gd, Loch Abar) is a name applied to a part of the Scottish Highlands. Historically, it was a provincial lordship consisting of the parishes of Kilmallie and Kilmonivaig, as they were before being reduced in extent by the creation ...
in 1784, ''Ceardach Mhic Luin'', appeared in the ''Sean Dain'' (1786) of the Perth bookseller John Gillies (p. 233).


Notes

Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Macintosh, Donald 1743 births 1808 deaths Scottish Episcopalian priests Nonjurors of the Glorious Revolution Translators from Scottish Gaelic People from Perthshire