Norman MacLeod
Encyclopedia
Reverend Norman Macleod (3 June 1812 – 16 June 1872) was a Scottish
clergyman and author
.
, to the Rev. Dr. Norman Macleod and Agnes Maxwell; his paternal grandfather, a minister of Morven
, bore the same name.
His father, at that time minister of Campbeltown, was himself an exceptional man. His entire life was closely bound to the Highlanders
of Scotland, catering to their spiritual and intellectual needs. He was the author of an extensive literature described by Professor Blackie as the "great work of classical Gaelic prose....written in a dialogue form, enriched by the dramatic grace of Plato
and the shrewd humour of Lucian
", and played a major role in the creation of an educational infrastructure for the Highlands
and Islands. He was an untiring supporter of the interests of the Highlanders, and his name was respected throughout the North and West of Scotland.
In 1827, Macleod became a student at the University of Glasgow
; in 1831, he went to Edinburgh to study divinity
under Dr Thomas Chalmers
. On 18 March 1838, he became parish minister at Loudoun
, Ayrshire
.
were already gathering to a head. Macleod, although he had no love for lay patronage, and wished the Church to be free to do its proper work, clung firmly to the idea of a national Established Church, and therefore remained in the Establishment when the Disruption of 1843
took place. He was one of those who took a middle course in the non-intrusion controversy, holding that the fitness of those who were presented to parishes should be judged by the presbyteries, the principle of Lord Aberdeens Bill. On the secession of 1843 he was offered many different parishes, and having finally settled at Dalkeith
, devoted himself to parish work and to questions affecting the Church as a whole. He was largely instrumental in the work of strengthening the Church. In 1847 he became one of the founders of the Evangelical Alliance
, and from 1849 edited the Christian Instructor. In 1851 he was called to the Barony church, Glasgow
, in which city the rest of his days were passed. There the more liberal theology rapidly made way among a people who judged it more by its fruits than its arguments, and MacLeod won many adherents by his practical schemes for the social reform of the people. He instituted temperance
refreshment rooms, a Congregational penny savings bank, and held services specially for the poor.
In 1860 Macleod was appointed editor of the new monthly magazine Good Words
, illustrated by Arthur Hughes
, F. A. Fraser, John Leighton, J. Mahoney, Francis Walker, T. Green and others. Under his control the magazine, which was mainly of a religious character, became widely popular. His own literary work, nearly all of which originally appeared in its pages — sermons, stories, travels, poems — was only a by-product of a busy life. By far his best work was the spontaneous and delightful Reminiscences of a Highland Parish (1867). While Good Words made his name known, and helped the cause he had so deeply at heart, his relations with the queen
and the royal family strengthened yet further his position in the country. Never since Principal Carstairs
had any Scottish clergyman been on such terms with his sovereign.
In 1865 Macleod risked an encounter with Scottish Sabbatarian ideas. The presbytery of Glasgow issued a pastoral letter on the subject of Sunday trains and other infringements of the Christian Sabbath. Macleod protested against the grounds on which its strictures were based. For a time, owing partly to a misleading report of his statement, he became the man in all Scotland most profoundly distrusted. But four years later the Church accorded him the highest honor in her power by choosing him as moderator
of her general assembly
.
, to inquire into the state of the missions. He undertook the journey in spite of failing health, and seems never to have recovered from its effects. He returned resolved to devote the rest of his days to rousing the Church to her duty in the sphere of foreign missions, but his health was now broken, and his old energy flagged. He is buried at Campsie
.
His Glasgow church was named after him, the Macleod Parish Church; and the Macleod Missionary Institute was erected by the Barony church in Glasgow. Queen Victoria gave two memorial windows to Crathie church as a testimony of her admiration for his work.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
clergyman and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
.
Early life
Norman Macleod was born in Kirk Street, CampbeltownCampbeltown
Campbeltown is a town and former royal burgh in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It lies by Campbeltown Loch on the Kintyre peninsula. Originally known as Kinlochkilkerran , it was renamed in the 17th century as Campbell's Town after Archibald Campbell was granted the site in 1667...
, to the Rev. Dr. Norman Macleod and Agnes Maxwell; his paternal grandfather, a minister of Morven
Morven
-Scotland:* Morven, Aberdeenshire, a mountain near Ballater* Morven, Caithness, mountain in northern Scotland* Morrone , a mountain near Braemar in Aberdeenshire* Morvern, peninsula in west Scotland...
, bore the same name.
His father, at that time minister of Campbeltown, was himself an exceptional man. His entire life was closely bound to the Highlanders
Gàidhealtachd
The Gàidhealtachd , sometimes known as A' Ghàidhealtachd , usually refers to the Scottish highlands and islands, and especially the Scottish Gaelic culture of the area. The corresponding Irish word Gaeltacht however refers strictly to an Irish speaking area...
of Scotland, catering to their spiritual and intellectual needs. He was the author of an extensive literature described by Professor Blackie as the "great work of classical Gaelic prose....written in a dialogue form, enriched by the dramatic grace of Plato
Plato
Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
and the shrewd humour of Lucian
Lucian
Lucian of Samosata was a rhetorician and satirist who wrote in the Greek language. He is noted for his witty and scoffing nature.His ethnicity is disputed and is attributed as Assyrian according to Frye and Parpola, and Syrian according to Joseph....
", and played a major role in the creation of an educational infrastructure for the Highlands
Scottish Highlands
The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...
and Islands. He was an untiring supporter of the interests of the Highlanders, and his name was respected throughout the North and West of Scotland.
In 1827, Macleod became a student at the University of Glasgow
University of Glasgow
The University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...
; in 1831, he went to Edinburgh to study divinity
Divinity
Divinity and divine are broadly applied but loosely defined terms, used variously within different faiths and belief systems — and even by different individuals within a given faith — to refer to some transcendent or transcendental power or deity, or its attributes or manifestations in...
under Dr Thomas Chalmers
Thomas Chalmers
Thomas Chalmers , Scottish mathematician, political economist, divine and a leader of the Free Church of Scotland, was born at Anstruther in Fife.-Overview:...
. On 18 March 1838, he became parish minister at Loudoun
Loudoun
Loudoun is an area of East Ayrshire, Scotland, east of Kilmarnock. The word Loudoun is a derivative of the Celtic Pagan God name Lugus.Loudoun is a parish and is named after the former village which stood north of Galston. The area is commonly referred to as the "Irvine Valley", for the River...
, Ayrshire
Ayrshire
Ayrshire is a registration county, and former administrative county in south-west Scotland, United Kingdom, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine. The town of Troon on the coast has hosted the British Open Golf Championship twice in the...
.
Career
At this time the troubles in the Scottish ChurchChurch of Scotland
The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....
were already gathering to a head. Macleod, although he had no love for lay patronage, and wished the Church to be free to do its proper work, clung firmly to the idea of a national Established Church, and therefore remained in the Establishment when the Disruption of 1843
Disruption of 1843
The Disruption of 1843 was a schism within the established Church of Scotland, in which 450 ministers of the Church broke away, over the issue of the Church's relationship with the State, to form the Free Church of Scotland...
took place. He was one of those who took a middle course in the non-intrusion controversy, holding that the fitness of those who were presented to parishes should be judged by the presbyteries, the principle of Lord Aberdeens Bill. On the secession of 1843 he was offered many different parishes, and having finally settled at Dalkeith
Dalkeith
Dalkeith is a town in Midlothian, Scotland, lying on the River North Esk. It was granted a burgh of barony in 1401 and a burgh of regality in 1540...
, devoted himself to parish work and to questions affecting the Church as a whole. He was largely instrumental in the work of strengthening the Church. In 1847 he became one of the founders of the Evangelical Alliance
Evangelical Alliance
The Evangelical Alliance is a London-based charitable organization founded in 1846. It has a claimed representation of over 1,000,000 evangelical Christians in the United Kingdom and is the oldest alliance of evangelical Christians in the world....
, and from 1849 edited the Christian Instructor. In 1851 he was called to the Barony church, Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, in which city the rest of his days were passed. There the more liberal theology rapidly made way among a people who judged it more by its fruits than its arguments, and MacLeod won many adherents by his practical schemes for the social reform of the people. He instituted temperance
Temperance movement
A temperance movement is a social movement urging reduced use of alcoholic beverages. Temperance movements may criticize excessive alcohol use, promote complete abstinence , or pressure the government to enact anti-alcohol legislation or complete prohibition of alcohol.-Temperance movement by...
refreshment rooms, a Congregational penny savings bank, and held services specially for the poor.
In 1860 Macleod was appointed editor of the new monthly magazine Good Words
Good Words
Good Words was a 19th-century monthly periodical in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1860 by Scottish publisher Alexander Strahan. Its first editor was Norman Macleod; after his death in 1872, it was edited by his brother, Donald Macleod....
, illustrated by Arthur Hughes
Arthur Hughes (artist)
Arthur Hughes , was an English painter and illustrator associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He is the uncle of the English painter Edward Robert Hughes.-Biography:Hughes was born in London...
, F. A. Fraser, John Leighton, J. Mahoney, Francis Walker, T. Green and others. Under his control the magazine, which was mainly of a religious character, became widely popular. His own literary work, nearly all of which originally appeared in its pages — sermons, stories, travels, poems — was only a by-product of a busy life. By far his best work was the spontaneous and delightful Reminiscences of a Highland Parish (1867). While Good Words made his name known, and helped the cause he had so deeply at heart, his relations with the queen
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
and the royal family strengthened yet further his position in the country. Never since Principal Carstairs
William Carstares
William Carstares , a minister of the Church of Scotland, was born at Cathcart, near Glasgow, Scotland.He was the son of the Rev John Carstares, a member of the Covenanting party of Protestors...
had any Scottish clergyman been on such terms with his sovereign.
In 1865 Macleod risked an encounter with Scottish Sabbatarian ideas. The presbytery of Glasgow issued a pastoral letter on the subject of Sunday trains and other infringements of the Christian Sabbath. Macleod protested against the grounds on which its strictures were based. For a time, owing partly to a misleading report of his statement, he became the man in all Scotland most profoundly distrusted. But four years later the Church accorded him the highest honor in her power by choosing him as moderator
Moderator of the General Assembly
The Moderator of the General Assembly is the chairperson of a General Assembly, the highest court of a presbyterian or reformed church. Kirk Sessions and Presbyteries may also style the chairperson as moderator....
of her general assembly
General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the sovereign and highest court of the Church of Scotland, and is thus the Church's governing body[1] An Introduction to Practice and Procedure in the Church of Scotland, A Gordon McGillivray, 2nd Edition .-Church courts:As a Presbyterian church,...
.
Late life
In 1867, along with Dr Archibald Watson, Macleod was sent to IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, to inquire into the state of the missions. He undertook the journey in spite of failing health, and seems never to have recovered from its effects. He returned resolved to devote the rest of his days to rousing the Church to her duty in the sphere of foreign missions, but his health was now broken, and his old energy flagged. He is buried at Campsie
Milton of Campsie
Milton of Campsie is a small village situated in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland roughly 10 miles north of Glasgow. Nestling at the foot of the Campsie Fells, it is neighboured by Kirkintilloch and Lennoxtown...
.
His Glasgow church was named after him, the Macleod Parish Church; and the Macleod Missionary Institute was erected by the Barony church in Glasgow. Queen Victoria gave two memorial windows to Crathie church as a testimony of her admiration for his work.