Neil R. MacCallum (15 May 1954 – 9 November 2002) was a

Scottish nationalist Scottish nationalism promotes the idea that the Scottish people form a cohesive nation and national identity. Scottish nationalism began to shape from 1853 with the National Association for the Vindication of Scottish Rights, progressing into t ...

political activist and poet. Born in

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 ...

, MacCallum studied at Firrhill High School and Napier College before working for the Lothian Health Board. In this role, he joined the

NALGO The National and Local Government Officers' Association was a British trade union representing mostly local government "white collar" workers. It was formed in 1905 as the National Association of Local Government Officers, and changed its full ...

trade union and served for a while as a shop steward. He joined the

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...

(SNP) while young, and attended the 1972 Plaid Cymru conference with a group of friends from the SNP, drawing attention by playing the

bagpipes Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, No ...

at the event.Peter D. Wright,
Neil R MacCallum
, '' Scots Independent'' MacCallum was elected to Edinburgh City Council in 1977, representing Wester Hailes. He lost his seat in 1980, but was elected as Assistant National Secretary of the SNP, then National Secretary the following year.Neil MacCallum
, ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its par ...

'', 21 November 2002 While Secretary, he chaired the SNP Commission of Inquiry into the party's structures, and it was he who convinced party leader Gordon Wilson to include Alex Salmond as a member. He also stood as a candidate in the 1983 general election in Edinburgh South, taking fourth place with 5.0% of the vote. He stood down in 1986, following ill health, and was succeeded by his assistant,

John Swinney John Ramsay Swinney (born 13 April 1964) is a Scottish politician who has served as Deputy First Minister of Scotland since 2014 and Cabinet Secretary for Covid Recovery since 2021. He was the Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from 200 ...

. MacCallum also wrote poetry in Lowland Scots, his work first appearing in "Out of Charity" in 1973, and from the late 1980s, he published compilations of other poetry in the language. In the 1990s, he became active in the Scots Language Society and served on the board of the Scottish Poetry Library, and acted as arts correspondent for the '' Scots Independent'' newspaper. He succeeded

David Purves Dr. David Purves (9 April 1924 – 3 January 2015) was a Scottish environmental scientist, playwright and poet, and a champion of the Scots language. Early life Purves was born in Selkirk, Scotland, the only son of James Alexander Purves, a mas ...

as editor of ''Lallans'' in 1995 and co-edited an anthology of writing from the magazine with him in the same year.MacCallum, Neil R. & Purves, David (eds.), ''Mak it New: An Anthology of Twenty-One Years of Writing in Lallans'', The Mercat Press, Edinburgh, In later life, MacCallum suffered with depression and problematic drinking, and went missing on several occasions. In November 2002, he fell into the

Union Canal Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

and died later the same day from

hypothermia Hypothermia is defined as a body core temperature below in humans. Symptoms depend on the temperature. In mild hypothermia, there is shivering and mental confusion. In moderate hypothermia, shivering stops and confusion increases. In severe h ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maccallum, Neil 1954 births 2002 deaths Alumni of Edinburgh Napier University Councillors in Edinburgh Deaths from hypothermia Politicians from Edinburgh Scots language activists Scots-language poets Scottish National Party politicians 20th-century poets People educated at Firrhill High School