Champion of Gaelic. An appreciation

JOHN Macleod (in Gaelic, Iain Macleoid), who has died aged 66, was a much-respected champion of the Gaelic language in Scotland, having worked for a decade as president of An Comunn Gàidhealach, the body which organises the annual Royal National Mòd, as well as serving as convener of the National Gaelic Parents Association Comunn nam Pàrant and chairperson of its Edinburgh branch, a board member of the Gaelic society Comunn na Gàidhlig and a director of the governmental Gaelic body Bòrd na Gàidhlig.

By profession a police officer in Edinburgh for 30 years, before his retirement at the rank of inspector in 2000, the details of Mr Macleod’s life are a singular illustration of someone who gave themselves not just to public service but to making a contribution to the community around them.

He was also a member of Lothian and Carloway Gaelic Choirs (and a tutor for the former), Gaelic advisor to Edinburgh International Harp Festival, a committee member of the Edinburgh branch of the Clàrsach (Gaelic harp) Society and a member and twice president of the Edinburgh Caithness Association.

John Maciver Macleod was born in Carloway on the Isle of Lewis in 1951 to Gaelic-speaking parents Duncan, a weaver, and Margaret (known as Peggy), a herring girl. The Gaelic translation of his name was Iain Macleoid; at the time registrations of Gaelic names were not permitted, so the couple translated Iain, their chosen name for their son, to the English John.

For generations this branch of the Macleoid family had been known as A’ Chòcair (the cooks), so he was known growing up as Iain Duncan John a’ Chòcair, a combination of his name, his father’s name and the family nickname.

The youngest of four children after Angusina (who died in infancy), Mary Etta (Meta) and Donaldina (Dalda), Mr Macleod attended Carloway Primary School and then the Nicolson Institute in Stornoway, boarding during the week and returning home at weekends. He finished school in 1969 and moved to Edinburgh in 1970, taking with him his mother’s advice not to stay out late at night. Yet when he arrived he joined Edinburgh City Police (later Lothian and Borders Police), and was soon patrolling then-rough streets like Lothian Road at chucking-out time.

Mr Macleod’s daughter Mairi says he enjoyed his police service, particularly in the early days, for the sense of tight-knit camaraderie between the officers, and that the team would often play practical jokes on one another. Stationed at the police box on Fountainbridge in December, for example, Mr Macleod once arrived to find that a colleague had placed a Christmas tree inside and cut the string, so he couldn’t get in or get the tree out.

He policed football matches and Hogmanay street parties, and particularly enjoyed leading the policing of the Royal Highland Show as inspector, as he was a member of the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland in civilian life. While in the force, he earned the Napier College Bronze Medal for SHNC Police Studies in 1976, an LLB law degree from the University of Edinburgh in 1984 and the Police Long Service and Good Conduct Medal in 1995.

Mr Macleod’s involvement in Gaelic organisations began before his retirement, when Mairi won a singing prize at the National Mod in 1995 and he was inspired to restart the then-in-abeyance Edinburgh branch of the Mod the following year. His involvement with various organisations grew from there, and he was an active petitioner for the advancement of Gaelic language and culture, which achieved, among other things, the Labour government’s establishment of the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act in 2005 and the foundation of Bòrd na Gàidhlig.

As president of An Comunn Gàidhealach between 2007 and 2017, Mr Macleod oversaw four Royal visits (two from Prince Charles and one each from Princess Anne and Prince Andrew). He was a great part of the change he saw in his own lifetime; due to the 1872 Education Act he was not permitted to be taught in Gaelic, but in his later years a number of Gaelic Medium Education schools came to exist in Scotland.

“Every language has value in its own right,” he once said, “and if you’re bilingual you have two windows on the world. Yes, you can learn other languages and use them widely, but with Gaelic you get both language and culture. Gaelic is here as a key part of Scotland’s heritage, something that we can’t afford to lose.”

A member of Edinburgh Free Church who observed the Sabbath and led monthly Gaelic services, John Macleod was given the award of Sàr Ghàidheal (Outstanding Gael) in October 2017 at Sabhal Mor Ostaig college on Skye. He married Christine (nee Hymers) in Wick, Caithness in 1977, and is survived by Christine, their daughter Mairi and son Calum. Mairi married a Lewis man, Kevin Morrison, in 2016, and the couple now live a few doors from her father’s childhood home.

DAVID POLLOCK