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Hugh MacDonald (journalist)

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Hugh MacDonald (4 April 1817 – 16 March 1860) was a Scottish journalist, poet and author from Glasgow. He wrote for the newspaper the Glasgow Citizen for many years under the pen name 'Caleb'.[1] He is best known for his book Rambles Round Glasgow, published in 1854 by Thomas Murray and Son;[2] a version with modern footnotes was published in 2023.[3]

Profile relief of MacDonald at drinking fountain monument on the Gleniffer Braes

Life

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MacDonald was born on Rumford Street in Bridgeton, Glasgow on 4 April 1817.[4][5] He was one of 11 children. His parents had moved from the Highlands to find work in the Glasgow textile industry, and MacDonald's father worked as a dyer in the Monteith and Company works in the Barrowland area.[6] MacDonald started work as a 'tearer' (junior assistant) at the same factory at the age of seven.[6] He was apprenticed to a block printer at the Barrowfield calico-printing works[2] and briefly ran a grocer's shop in 1848.[5] When the shop failed, he worked as a block printer for Harrow, McIntyre and Co. of Colinslie, Paisley. He initially continued to live in Bridgeton and walked to Paisley for work each day,[4] before temporarily relocating to the Renfrewshire town.[7]

MacDonald was a member of the City Club, a literary and artistic gathering which met in the Bank Tavern in Glasgow,[8] and was a founder member of the Ramblers Association.[6]

After around 1840 MacDonald moved into writing. He was a supporter of the Chartist movement and initially wrote poetry and articles for Chartist publications[5] such as the Chartist Circular.[6] In 1847 he came to public attention when he wrote a letter to the Glasgow Citizen defending the poetry of Robert Burns against an attack by Rev. George Gilfillan of Dundee.[6] MacDonald was a great enthusiast for Burns and quoted him extensively in his writing.[1]

James Hedderwick, who was editor of the Glasgow Citizen, then invited him to write for the paper.[9] MacDonald joined the staff of the paper in 1849. He wrote articles under the pen name Caleb, many of them of on social or political issues,[2] but it was his series of Glasgow travelogues, published over a period of three years, for which he became well known. These 'rambles' in the countryside around Glasgow were collected into a book, Rambles Round Glasgow, in 1854, which MacDonald dedicated to Hedderwick.[10] The book was very popular[8] and went through several editions.[11] MacDonald followed it up in 1857 with Days at the Coast, a travelogue of locations on the Firth of Clyde, which was also well received.[8]

MacDonald became sub-editor of the Glasgow Citizen. He later went on to write for the Glasgow Morning Journal and the Glasgow Sentinel , and edited the Glasgow Times.[5]

MacDonald married twice. His first wife, Agnes, died within a year of their marriage along with their newborn child. His second wife, Alison, had been a bridesmaid at Agnes and Hugh's MacDonald's wedding. Agnes had no living children but Alison had one son and four daughters with Hugh MacDonald.[4]

MacDonald became ill in spring 1860 after an expedition to Castlemilk to research his planned book, Footsteps of the Year.[6] He died on 16 March 1860 at the age of 42[6] and is buried in the Southern Necropolis.[2] He was survived by his wife Alison and their five children.

Publications

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  • Rambles Round Glasgow, 1854
  • Days at the Coast, 1857
  • Poems and Songs of Hugh MacDonald, 1864

Memorials

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Drinking fountain monument to MacDonald at Glasgow Green
  • There is a memorial fountain for MacDonald on Glasgow Green,[12] the location of his first 'ramble'.[13] This originally stood on Gleniffer Braes, Paisley, but was moved to Glasgow Green in 1881.[14] The fountain was designed by John Mossman[14] and paid for by the Glasgow Ramblers Club.[15]
  • A memorial water stoop stands on Gleniffer Braes, Paisley,[2] the location of another 'ramble'.[16] It was erected in 1883 by the Paisley Old Weavers Society.[17]
  • One of the entrances to Glasgow Green is known as 'Hugh MacDonald's Gate'. It is situated at the corner of King's Drive and Arcadia Street.[18] A paving slab at that gate commemorates his book Rambles Round Glasgow.

References

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  1. ^ a b MacDonald, Hugh (2023). Rambles around Glasgow (21st Century ed.). Glasgow: Hephaestion Press. pp. v. ISBN 9781916490932.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Hugh MacDonald 1817-1860". Gazetteer for Scotland. 2021. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  3. ^ Victorian travelogue that details Glasgow and Lanarkshire is given new release, Jonathan Geddes, Daily Record, 17 February 2023
  4. ^ a b c MacDonald, Hugh (1863). Poems and Songs of Hugh MacDonald. W. Love.
  5. ^ a b c d "TheGlasgowStory: Hugh MacDonald". www.theglasgowstory.com. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Mearns, Jim (2011). "The journalist, the minister and the lost cairnfield of Cathkin Braes". Scottish Archaeological Journal. 33 (1/2): 67–78. doi:10.3366/saj.2011.0025. JSTOR 43923911 – via JSTOR.
  7. ^ MacDonald, Hugh (1910). Rambles Round Glasgow (New edition with introduction and notes by the Rev. G. H. Morrison, M.A. ed.). Glasgow: John Smith & Son. pp. xxi–xxx.
  8. ^ a b c Lindsay, Maurice (1972). Portrait of Glasgow.
  9. ^ MacGregor, George (1881). History of Glasgow from the Earliest Period to the Present Time. pp. 450–451.
  10. ^ MacDonald, Hugh (1860). Rambles Round Glasgow (3rd ed.). Glasgow: John Cameron. pp. iii.
  11. ^ "Formats and Editions of Rambles round Glasgow : descriptive, historical, and traditional [WorldCat.org]". www.worldcat.org. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  12. ^ Hugh MacDonald Memorial Fountain, Art UK
  13. ^ MacDonald, Hugh (1860). Rambles Round Glasgow (3rd ed.). Glasgow: John Cameron. p. 11.
  14. ^ a b "TheGlasgowStory: Bonnie Wee Well". www.theglasgowstory.com. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  15. ^ Griffith, Roger (28 March 2019). "MacDonald's Fountain or the 'Bonnie Wee Well', Gleniffer Braes, Paisley". YouTube. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  16. ^ MacDonald, Hugh (1860). Rambles Round Glasgow (3rd ed.). Glasgow: John Cameron. p. 239.
  17. ^ Rosser1954 (27 March 2019), MacDonald's Fountain or Bonnie Wee Well, Gleniffer Braes. Water stoop and memorial, retrieved 8 February 2022{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  18. ^ "Glasgow Green map". maps Glasgow. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
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