From Cleits to Castles - Softcover

MacDonald, Calum

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0956076467 ISBN 13: 9780956076465

Publisher: The Islands Book Trust, 2010

Synopsis

Autobiography of Calum MacDonald, who was born and brought up on St Kilda prior to the evacuation in 1930.

About this title

About the Author

Calum MacDonald was born and brought up on the remote island of St Kilda. He left aged 16, and went on to work for Lord Dumfries as his personal valet. After the war he moved to London to work at a top London hotel. Calum MacDonald died in 1979.

From the Back Cover

There is a vast literature on the subject of St Kilda, almost all by outside writers. The authentic voices of those who were native to the Island remain largely silent. This book helps redress the balance. It is the remarkable story of Calum MacDonald, who was born on St Kilda in 1908, and lived there until he was sixteen, when he left prior to the evacuation for the bright lights of Harris. He tells the story of a hard life earning a living from the inhospitable land, but there is another story too: one of closeness, kindness, spirituality and humour. Calum's life was to take twists and turns he could never have dreamt of during his childhood on the island, but throughout his later career in great houses and a top London hotel he was always mindful of his origins: `All my life I have been very fortunate because I was born among a small community of Christian belief, who lived and shared their lives as a whole, not as a unit. Our closeness was partly due to kinship and isolation from the outside world.'

Edition details

• Publisher: The Islands Book Trust
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0956076467
• ISBN 13: 9780956076465
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 127