NEIL ANGUS MACDONALD, who died in Inverness Royal Infirmary after a
long illness, was one of Scotland's leading pipers and an authority on
Gaelic language and culture. He was 84.
Born on Barra, and educated at St Mungo's Academy, Glasgow, he was a
graduate of Glasgow University and trained as a teacher at Jordanhill
College.
His first teaching appointment was to two-teacher Eoligarry School on
his native island, but before he could take up the appointment, the
headship became vacant and he was made headmaster.
After war service with the RAF in India, where he was invalided out of
the service with polio, he became headmaster of Castlebay Secondary on
Barra in 1947, and six years later at St Joseph's School, Inverness.
He was a member of Inverness Gaelic Society and tutor to the city's
Gaelic Choir.
Descended from a line of pipers, he studied under the late Pipe Major
John Macdonald, and won many prestigious awards for his playing. He
became a teacher himself and a much-
respected judge.
He was a member of St Mary's parish, Inverness, where his requiem mass
last Friday was attended by his widow Nan, their two sons and two
daughters, and eight grandchildren.
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