John Mactaggart (26 June 1791 - 8 January 1830) was a Scottish writer and engineer born near Plunton Castle in the parish of Borgue. He is best known for writing '' The Scottish Gallovidian Encyclopedia'', a wide-ranging and idiosyncratic reference work covering local words, places, traditions, and songs collected in and around

Galloway Galloway ( ; sco, Gallowa; la, Gallovidia) is a region in southwestern Scotland comprising the historic counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. It is administered as part of the council area of Dumfries and Galloway. A native or i ...

. Mactaggart studied at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

for one session but didn't return. Away from Edinburgh he "learned the engineering", working on John Rennie's

Plymouth Breakwater Plymouth Breakwater is a stone breakwater protecting Plymouth Sound and the anchorages near Plymouth, Devon, England. It is wide at the top and the base is . It lies in about of water. Around 4 million tons of rock were used in its construct ...

. Through this work he was recommended to the post of clerk of works on the

Rideau Canal The Rideau Canal, also known unofficially as the Rideau Waterway, connects Canada's capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, to Lake Ontario and the Saint Lawrence River at Kingston. It is 202 kilometres long. The name ''Rideau'', French for "curtain", ...

, in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Mactaggart arrived in Canada in August 1826. In addition to his work on the canal project he wrote several newspaper articles and was elected to the

Natural History Society of Montreal The Natural History Society of Montreal, which ran from 1827 to 1928, was the oldest scientific organisation in Canada, and one of the oldest in North America. Its first meeting took place on May 12, 1827. The first chair of the society was Andrew ...

. In 1828 Mactaggart suffered from an epidemic fever. He was subsequently dismissed for "being drunk on duty" and returned from Canada to England in later that year. In 1829 Mactaggart published ''Three Years in Canada.'' Mactagggart died on 8 January 1830 at Torrs, Kirkcudbrightshire and is buried in Senwick kirkyard in Borgue.

External links

* 1824 first edition of '' The Scottish Gallovidian Encyclopedia'' a
archive.org
* 1876 second edition of ''The Scottish Gallovidian Encyclopedia'' at archive.org * '' Three Years in Canada'' at archive.org

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mactaggart, John 1791 births 1830 deaths Scottish writers Scottish engineers Burials in Dumfries and Galloway