Angus John MacDonald
By then, having lived at Auchenbothie and Kilmacolm, he had been settled in Glasgow for some years. He retired in 1998.
Angus John Macdonald had a wide range of interests. His last home was in Partick, and he was a regular attendee at the Crow Road Free Church around the corner from his own street.
He was also known as an indefatigable and highly knowledgeable collector of Gaelic books and books on Highland history and culture, building up a collection that would be the envy of many an educational institution.
Especially in his youth, he could compose Gaelic poetry at the drop of a hat, as well as a translation in the same metre!
When he was younger he also played the chanter, while his ability to solve the most abstruse crossword puzzles was legendary among his friends.
But perhaps the memory of him that his friends will cherish most is that of his extraordinarily hospitable and sociable nature, as he held court in his flat at No. 10 and generously produced sandwiches, tea, biscuits and as much whisky as people were prepared to take.
In recent years he would regularly invite friends in after the monthly Gaelic Society meetings, and the talk – almost always in Gaelic – would flow until late, with much discussion, reminiscence and general fun.
Angus John’s mother Christina was from Grimsay, and he stayed in Grimsay on his most recent trip to Uist, which was in 2012.
He had also more than once visited Canada, where there are relatives, as well as South Africa, where descendants of his father’s brother John still live. And he himself was visited by both relatives and friends from those countries as well.
He was a healthy man who often walked into town instead of taking a bus and whose appearance belied his actual age. It was therefore a severe blow when he had his diagnosis last October. Carers attended him, and, although saddened by his gradually waning powers, his friends did not neglect him. But the disease was inexorable.
His daughter-in-law Janet
paid a graceful tribute at a well-attended funeral service held in his own church on September 1, with some having come a considerable distance, and that was followed by interment in the New Lambhill Cemetery in Glasgow.
Our sympathy goes most particularly to Angus, Janet and their son Cameron, and to Angus John’s surviving siblings, his older sister Katie Mary in New Zealand and
his younger brother Neil in Falkirk, and to their families.
But many others will also miss Angus John Macdonald, and it is hard to believe that one will not encounter him again, perhaps on one of his many walks along Dumbarton Road, or see that shy, friendly smile of welcome as he opens his door.
Bidh sinn ga ionndrainn iomadach latha.