Donald MacDonald, ‘Domhnall Ghilleasbuig Sorcha’, served all through the First World War, sailed and farmed on and around the Great Lakes in Canada and lived through the Great Depression in America.
He spent the early years of the Second World War in the Merchant Navy and the remainder as a rigger in the Clyde shipyards, living in Glasgow through the Blitz. Returning to Uist, he built a house and married Mary Ann. Donald was widowed in 1954 and left to raise five of their six children single-handedly. Encouraged by friends to document his varied life, Donald spent his early eighties handwriting his life story before dying peacefully in 1985 at the age of eighty-eight.
His is a human story. It is told with complete unselfconciousness and lack of pretentiousness. His memoirs reflect authentic old themes in an honest and original way. His Uist childhood is fascinating and can be looked upon as a contribution to the social history of the island.
