Autobiographical Journal of John MacDonald (1770–1830) - Searchable PDF & Surname Index

Rare First-Hand Highland Memoir: From Craignish in Argyll & the Mackay Country of Sutherland to the Great Siege of Gibraltar (1770–1830)

Originally penned by John MacDonald (1752–1832)—S.P.C.K. and parochial schoolmaster, Highland bagpiper, and regimental Pipe-Major—and edited from the family manuscript in 1906 by the Rev. Angus Mackay, M.A. (author of The Book of Mackay), the Autobiographical Journal of John MacDonald, Schoolmaster and Soldier (1770–1830) is an indispensable primary source for researchers tracing ancestors in Argyllshire, Sutherlandshire ("Lord Reay's Country"), and Caithness, as well as descendants of the North Fencibles, 73rd (MacLeod's) Highlanders, 25th Foot, Reay Fencibles, and 93rd Sutherland Highlanders.

What's Inside This Enhanced Fairbairn's Crests Digital Edition:

• Complete Merged Archival Edition (22 Pages): Includes the full, unabridged 1770–1830 journal and 1832 family postscript by his son James Macdonald, preceded by 4 pages of newly written Historical & Genealogical Front Matter and followed by our custom Back-of-Book Alphabetical Surname & Place Index.
• Pure-White (#FFFFFF) Archival Page Backgrounds: Every page is presented on a crisp, high-contrast pure white (#FFFFFF) background with all scanner wrappers, blank flyleaves, library barcodes, and digitizer watermarks completely removed for effortless reading and home printing.
• Every-Word Searchable Text Layer: Instant Ctrl+F / Cmd+F keyword search across every family surname, Sutherland township, Argyllshire farm, naval ship, and Highland regiment.
• Comprehensive Alphabetical Surname & Parish Index: Newly compiled cross-reference index mapping every named individual, family branch, parish, regiment, and vessel directly to its exact page number.

Historical & Regional Overview

Born in the parish of Craignish, Argyllshire, where his ancestors were gardeners to the Campbells of Craignish Castle, John MacDonald grew up at Inveraray on the Duke of Argyll's estate and taught school on the island of Scarba, Killian, Lochowside, Strathlachlan, and Strachur—recording an early eyewitness account of sixteen farming families cleared for cattle at Killian. Sent north in 1776 by the Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge (S.P.C.K.) to Skerray in the parish of Tongue, Sutherlandshire, he lived among the hospitable Mackays of Skerray, Melness, and Bighouse before enlisting as Pipe-Major in the Duke of Gordon's North Fencibles (1778) and Colonel George Mackenzie's 2nd Battalion, 73rd Highlanders (1779).

MacDonald provides a gripping frontline chronicle of Admiral Rodney's 1780 naval battles and the three-year Great Siege of Gibraltar (1780–1783), followed by four years as personal butler to Gibraltar's commander General Sir George Augustus Eliott (Lord Heathfield) in London, Bath, and Aix-la-Chapelle, a voyage to Madras and Calcutta aboard the East Indiaman Phoenix (1791–1792), and service aboard the Hindostan on Lord Macartney's Embassy to the Emperor of China (1792–1794). Returning to serve as Pipe-Major of the Reay Fencibles (1794–1796) in Scotland and Ulster, MacDonald spent his final thirty-five years as schoolmaster across Bighouse, Falsaid, Kirkiboll, Durness, Skerray, Melness (Talmin), and Reay—documenting local marriages, baptisms, the 1807 Skerray sheep clearance, coastal fever epidemics, and the wounds of his stepson Robert Macpherson and five brothers from the parish of Farr in the 93rd Sutherland Highlanders at the Battle of New Orleans (1815).

Surnames & Families Indexed in This Volume:

Baillie (of Rosehall), Barcello (Barcelo), Bishop, Bray (Reay), Brummel, Cairncross (Cairn-cross), Campbell (of Craignish Castle, Inveraray, Duke of Argyle), Clark, Clarke, Cromarty (Cromartie), Curtis, Edgar, Edgecomb (Edgcumbe), Eliott (Elliott, Lord Heathfield), Gordon (Duke of Gordon), Grant (of Falsaid, Edinburgh), Gray, Hardenburgh (Hardenberg), Heathfield, Howe (Lord Howe), Hunter, La Motte, Livingstone (of Scarba), Macartney (Lord Macartney), MacDonald (Macdonald of Craignish, Inveraray, Skerray, Durness, Melness, Reay), Macgregor (MacGregor), Macintosh (MacIntosh), Mackay (MacKay of Skerray, Bighouse, Melness, Skail, Kinside, Hope, Newland, Tongue, Reay, London), Mackenzie (MacKenzie of Cromarty, Tongue), Macpherson (MacPherson of the 93rd Sutherland Highlanders), Mitchell, Munro, Northumberland (Duke of), Nugent, O'Hara, Prince William, Reay (Lord Reay), Reden (Tteden, Treden), Rigby, Rodney, Ross, Stocker, Thomson.

Parishes, Townships, Regiments & Ships Indexed:

Scottish Parishes, Estates & Burghs: Aberdeen, Argyle (Argyllshire), Badcall, Badenoch, Bighouse, Caithness, Campbelltown (Ardersier), Craignish, Castle of Craignish, Cromarty, Cupar in Fife, Dornoch, Durness, Edinburgh, Elgin (Morayshire), Falsaid, Farr, Fort Augustus, Fort George, Fort William, Glasgow, Gordon Castle, Greenock, Hope, Inveraray, Inverness, Killian, Kinside, Kirkiboll, Langdale, Lochowside (Loch Aweside), Meikle Ferry, Melness, Newland, Peterhead, Port-Patrick (Portpatrick), Reay, Rosehall, Scarba (Island of), Skail, Skerray, St. Andrews, Strachur, Strathlachlan, Strathnaver, Sutherland (Sutherlandshire), Tain, Talmin, Thurso, Tongue, Wick.
England, Ireland, Gibraltar & Global Ports: Aix-la-Chapelle, Algeciras, Alton, Bath, Batavia, Belfast, Bengal, Calcutta, Calais, Canton, Cape Clear, Cape of Good Hope, Chatham, Chelsea, Chusan, Cochin China, Cornwall, Deptford, Diamond Harbour, Donaghadee, The Downs, Farnham, Fort St. George (Madras), Funchal (Madeira), Gibraltar, Gravesend, Heathfield (Sussex), Hilsea, Horsley Down, Java Head, Kalkhofen, London, Macao, Madras, Maker Church, Melness, New Orleans, Plymouth, Port Praya (St. Iago), Portsmouth, Rio de Janeiro, Spithead, St. Helena, St. Paul's Island, Sunderland, Tenerife, Tientsin, Torbay, Tristan da Cunha, Turnham Green, Wapping, Westminster, Whampoa, Yarmouth Roads.
Military Regiments & Ships: North Fencibles, 2nd Battalion 73rd Highlanders (MacLeod's Highlanders), 25th Regiment of Foot, Reay Fencibles, 93rd Sutherland Highlanders, 1st Battalion Royal Scots, 3rd Foot Guards, 12th, 39th, 56th, 59th, 72nd, 76th & 97th Regiments of Foot, Tongue Volunteer Company, Hanoverian Regiments (Hardenburgh's, Reden's, La Motte's), HMS Prince George, HMS Prince William, HMS Edgar, HMS Bedford, HMS Enterprize, HMS Lion, HMS Sampson, HMS Argo, HMS Assistance, East Indiamen Phoenix and Hindostan, Transports Dispatch, Admiral Parker, Jane, and Mercury.