CLAN MACLEOD SOCIETY OF SOUTH AFRICA NEWSLETTER

Clan MacLeod Society of South Africa

Calling all Newsletter

Issue No 24 March/April Correspondence to: The Editor, Brenda Morris, PO Box 82, Caversham Glen 3616

President’s Note

INSIDE THIS ISSUE will never forget the first quar- is of the MacLeod of Talisker family ter of 2007. For me it was a and is well known in clan circles. President’s Note 1-2 I period of joy, extreme sadness and severe stress. Following a few days in South Af- rica, I flew to , from where I MacLeod Miscellany 2-3 Our AGM took place at my home travelled by bus to Cambridge. The on 6 th January and although not terrible news of the death of Chief Chief John’s Obituary well attended, council members John on 12 th February came to me (The Scotsman) 4-5 were re-elected, decisions were by e-mail. The ACMS Meeting and made and the Society carries on Annual Dinner of CMS Scotland with a good core of stalwart mem- were already arranged for 17 th Feb- Hugh MacLeod of bers. We still do not have a secre- ruary in Edinburgh. Driving alone MacLeod and the tary nor a vice-president. Our An- on the M6, through the Midlands, Talisker Claim 6 nual Dinner will take place on Fri- Cumbria and Lowland Scotland, my th day 16 November and the venue thoughts were mainly memories of is yet to be confirmed. Please Chief John. Leaving the motorway Cape Town Taliskers make a note of this event in your at Moffat, I cut across country and past Presidents 7 diaries. through the Tweed Valley to Peebles, where I stayed with my Notice Board 8 The following week I flew to Syd- brother Andrew and his family. ney, Australia. I spent most of the rest of January in New South The ACMS meeting was, of course, Wales for the wedding of my sec- overshadowed by the death of ond daughter, Gabrielle. It was Chief John and the lack of his usual the first time for some years that presence was felt by everyone. The my four daughters and I had been Annual Dinner of CMS Scotland together. My three granddaugh- that same evening, was held at the ters were also with us. I am sure Royal Scots Club, a magnificent that you can all imagine the gai- venue for such an occasion. The ety and the tears of emotion. The evening was almost entirely de- wedding was memorable, not voted to the memory of Chief John. only for the usual reasons but The pibroch played by Euan Mac- also for the thunder, lightning, Crimmon was MacLeod’s Salute . I wind and rain. A photograph else- have never heard it played so well where in this Newsletter illus- — a magical performance by one of trates this occasion. the world’s greatest pipers. There was a heart-rending eulogy from A week later I visited Charles Rory MacLeod of Suardal and Cooke, his wife Kerry and daugh- many speeches and words of re- ter Skye, on their farm at Grundy. membrance from international Skye had just flown home from MacLeods. You will be able to read Edinburgh for a holiday. Charles (Continued on page 2)

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President’s Note MacLeod Miscellany

(Continued from page 1) Duncan MacLeod, 1879 ——— ? of this at length in the forthcoming e have received an inquiry Clan MacLeod Magazine so I will from Grant MacLeod not say much about it here. W (Scotland) for information on his

great-uncle, Duncan, who came Following a ‘Lying in State’ in the to South Africa at the end of the library of , the 19th century. funeral of Chief John took place on

Saturday 24 th February. Unfortu- Duncan was born in Shawbost, nately, I was unable to attend the Isle of Lewis, in 1879 and was the funeral because of prior commit- son of Roderick MacLeod. We ments and family problems. I sent will, of course, search the state messages of sympathy and condo- archives, but should anyone know lences on behalf of CMS South of this man, please contact Leo- Africa to Ulrika, Hugh, Elena, nard. Herewith a photograph of Stephan and their families. Obituar- Duncan in army uniform and also ies for Chief John appeared in all one of his RNV book before join- major British newspapers and ing the army for duty in Africa. probably throughout the western world. We reproduce one of them here.

There was a memorial service for Chief John in the Swedish Church in London on Saturday 21 st April at 11.00 am, followed by refresh- ments in the Church Hall. Ulrika and John were married in this church exactly three years ago.

There will also be another Memo- rial Service for Chief John on 16 th June in Dunvegan Parish Church. This will be followed by the unveil- ing of the memorial headstone at Kilmuir Church and a buffet dinner will be served in the castle in the evening.

The new chief of Clan MacLeod wishes to be known as Chief Hugh MacLeod of MacLeod. The Chief is dead. Long live the Chief. Upholding the Scots Tradition ‘Downunder’ Yours aye hen Harry Buisman, grandson of Sheila and Robin Douglas, set W his heart on joining his school pipe band, he knew that Sydney’s Knox Grammar had the only known junior school pipe band in the world. Leonard McLeod Now 13 years old and having moved up to Knox College, Harry has just been invited to play the tenor drum. This involves twirling the sticks be- tween beats, his mother Fiona says, and his uniform has the red McPherson tartan worn with a dark green jacket with large gold buttons. A red flash in each stocking denotes that he is a member of the band.

Anzac Day (25 April) was his first public parade, in the presence of an important Australian Air Force officer.

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MacLeod Miscellany Sheila Douglas writes: McLeod’s Daughters Come to Port MacQuarrie

eter and Ann McLeod flew to P Cape Town from Bloemfontein recently to spend a few days with their many friends.

They will both retire within the next year and have bought themselves a house in Fishhoek. As their ac- commodation is just close by, they walked to visit Treasurer, Sheila Douglas, to pay their annual sub- scription, at the same time enjoying tea and a pleasant chat.

From left to right: : Laura, Leonard, Gabrielle, Emily and Jessica. his photograph shows our president, Leonard, with his four daughters. T They were all together for the marriage of Leonard’s second daughter, Gabrielle, to Jason Towers. The wedding took place at Port MacQuarrie, New South Wales, Australia, on 27 January 2007.

All four sisters were Highland Dancers and many of our members in the Cape will remember them dancing at our function some years ago. Laura Peter McLeod, his wife Ann (left) and lives in France, Gabrielle in Australia, and Emily and Jessica in England. Lerma Macleod, on the occasion of Chief John's atttendance and read- Our congratulations go out to the happy couple. ing at the Cape Town Presbyterian Church on 11 April, 2004.

KEARNEY/WILLIAMSON acqueline, only daughter of John and Liz Williamson of Rondebosch, J and Liam, eldest son of Kieran and Maree Kearney of Noosa Heads tied the knot in Brisbane, Australia on 26 March 2007. A very glamorous- looking Liz went ‘downunder’ to supervise!

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THURSDAY 15 FEBRUARY 2007 THE SCOTSMAN OBITUARIES John MacLeod of MacLeod BY GORDON CASELY

MacLeod — he was correctly addressed of the ilk rather than as "Mr MacLeod" — held claim to being a Renaissance man. A successful businessman and musicologist, he was a professionally trained singer who recorded a number of albums, clan leader and moderniser, scholar and tourism manager. Cha- risma he had in plenty, and moved readily among any whom he met. MacLeod was not born to be clan chief. But it was his fate that he was chosen so. Born John Wol- rige-Gordon, the second son and elder twin of Captain Robert Wol- rige-Gordon of Esslemont, 20th of Hallhead and ninth baron of Esslemont in Aberdeenshire, he became the tanistair (nominated heir) as a 16-year-old in 1951 of 28th clan chief Dame Flora MacLeod of MacLeod — a move recognised by Lord Lyon Sir Tho- mas Innes of Learney — and took over from her as chief when she died, aged 99, in 1976. Dame Flora married Hubert Walter in 1901, succeeded her fa- ther as chief in1934 and reverted to her maiden name on the death of her husband. Her elder daughter, Alice, married the chief of MacNab, while Joan, the younger, wed Robert Wolrige-Gordon, heir to Esslemont in east Aberdeenshire. Of Joan's three sons, the eldest, Robert, succeeded to Esslemont; the youngest, the late Patrick, became Conservative MP he name of John MacLeod for East Aberdeenshire; with John, of MacLeod, 29th chief and Patrick's elder twin, being nomi- JOHN MacLEOD T holder of the arms and nated as heir to MacLeod and the name of MacLeod, will be forever barony of Dunvegan. of MacLEOD associated with his £10 million The talented MacLeod, edu- 29th chief of MacLeod attempt in March 2000 to sell off cated at Eton and McGill Univer- the Black range in order to sity, Montreal, trained at the Lon- Born: 10 August, 1935, at repair historic Dunvegan Castle. don Academy of Music and Dra- Esslemont, Ellon, The resulting approbrium matic Art, initially working in caba- heaped on him took no account of ret in Canada and the US before Aberdeenshire. a basic fact of life: that Dunvegan gaining an Equity card and return- Died: 12 February, 2007, was his permanent home, and ing to the UK in theatre manage- in London, aged 71. that without the castle, he would ment. Keen to further a career in be homeless, his clan would have music, he left London's West End no heartland, and Skye would "with some reluctance" and went to lose its major tourist attraction. Geneva to study voice. 4 CLAN MACLEOD SOCIETY OF SOUTH AFRICA NEWSLETTER

He knew that Dunvegan was With Skye such a focus for tag on Scotland's iconic moun- his destiny, and under the tutelage outdoor activities, a need for taintops, he was savagely criti- of his redoubtable grandmother he modern mountain rescue was cised from conservation and became imbued in clan ways and self-evident, and in 2001 he do- hill-users groups, even receiv- learning. When he succeeded her nated land in Glenbrittle for a res- ing the threat of a legal chal- at age 40, he renounced his career cue base funded by the Order of lenge on actual ownership in show business: "the call of Dun- St John. On the stormy day of the from one outdoor group. But vegan is too strong to resist". opening, he appeared in his Crown Estate enquiries con- His inheritance was a show MacLeod kiIt as always. His cluded that indeed MacLeod of a very different kind. He was words may have been somewhat owned the mountains — some now full-time leader and ambassa- drowned by the wind, but there 23,000 acres of the peaks, dor for an active and worldwide was no denying his personal rivers and 14 miles of coast. following, as well as laird of the pride of place in being part of new Subsequent assess- rambling Dunvegan. Work as clan life in his beloved Cuillin. ment of MacLeod's castle pro- chief took him on extensive (and ject now puts the likely bill at usually self-funded) tours to North America, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Europe to visit clansfolk. Maintenance of the clan was an all-consuming passion, and· he contrived to present him- self almost everywhere he was asked. Maintenance of Dunvegan proved another matter entirely. The castle occupies a site that has been in MacLeod hands for more than eight centuries, and had not been well maintained. It was MacLeod's inspiration that a busi- ness plan had been devised to make the place pay for itself. It was his aspiration that Dunvegan re- main for all time a place of pilgrim- age for both MacLeods and those Dunvegan Castle interested in Skye and Scotland. He redesigned and re- MacLeod was a laird £19 million, and the matter is vamped the place, opening it in a whose personal template just did- now the subject of a bid for fashion long before the term "user n't fit the standard caricature of a lottery funding. friendly" was invented. He'd turn up landowner. A lifetime of travel MacLeod's descent to lead tours himself, a tall figure in gave him strong pro-European came from 13th century Norse an increasingly battered MacLeod tendencies, and he saw it as busi- sources, by tradition from kilt, personally greeting his visitors, ness and international sense for , eponymous ancestor of making those on the tour feel the UK to join the euro. He was the MacLeods. Two of the warmly welcome — as indeed they strongly antifascist, and marched quarters on his MacLeod coat- were. Here was a home that was in protest against the Iraq war. of-arms show the three legs of evidently lived in, and MacLeod When running repairs to Man to recall a tradition of enjoyed showing it off. Dunvegan proved simply impossi- Manx blood going back to He was custodian of the ble — "The cracks: are crevasses, Ragnar Lothbrok in 854. priceless Dunvegan Armorial, a and no longer patchable" — he Macleod was married handwritten and painted volume came to the heart-wrenching de- three times; first to Drusilla dating from 1582 containing the cision that a Cuillin sale would be Shaw, from Co Kildare in 1961 coats-of-arms of Scotland's power the only exit from the financial (divorced 1971); and secondly brokers of the time, and which en- impasse. Besides, the condition to Melita Kolin, from Sofia in tered his family in 1751. Keen to of the castle was impeding further 1973 (divorced 1993). He is see the volume published for the plans to develop Dunvegan in survived by his third wife, wider world, he worked from 1979 terms of year-round tourism. Ulrika, sons Hugh, who now with editors John and Eileen Mal- History may show him to becomes the 30th chief of den in what proved to be a 27-year have been harshly judged in his MacLeod, Stephan, and odyssey until successful funding attempted mountain sale, for daughter Elena. gained publication last year. when he put a £10 million price-

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Biography , Tuesday, March 20, 2007 HUGH MACLEOD www.dailytelegraph.com.au By FIONA HUDSON in London I'm a Scottish clan orn in London in 1973, he graduated with a BA (Hons) in Film and Modern History from the University of London and the Sorbonne in chief, claims B 1995. Australian builder

After a brief period at Sotheby’s and Freud Communications, Hugh began working in television as a researcher and was commissioned to direct/ By FIONA HUDSON in London produce Champagne and Canvas , a documentary that was nominated for best video production at the 1998 BBC British Short Film Festival. n Aussie builder claims he is the rightful chief of one He gained experience in film production at the London Film School before A of Scotland's most producing Cuisine Chinoise starring Irene Jacob. To date, this film has famous clans, the MacLeods. been broadcast on FilmFour, Sundance Channel, HBO and featured in numerous international film festivals including Edinburgh, the Schermi West Australian Guy MacLeod, d’Amore, Grenoble, winning best short film at Dignes-les-Bains. 54, put his hand up for the title following the death last month of Since then Hugh has been working as a freelance director and producer the clan's 29th chief, John on a variety of television and feature film projects. His debut short film as MacLeod. The late leader contro- director, The Point, versially once tried to sell the was awarded a cer- famous Black Cuillin mountains tificate of merit at on the to raise $25 TCM’s classic shorts million for repairs to his medieval competition in asso- Dunvegan Castle. ciation with the 2001 Regus London Film Geraldton tradesman Mr Festival. MacLeod — also known as "The Talisker" — claims he is directly In 2006 he estab- descended from 17th century lished Morphe Films clan leader Rory Mor. He said he and optioned the film has not come forward to stake a rights to the Sunday claim on the MacLeod clan's cas- Times bestseller, The tle, heirlooms or other assets. "I Cloud Garden , which am more interested in the blood- he is currently co- line than taking over a ruined adapting for the big castle or hitting the headlines. I screen. His develop- am keen the bloodline shouldn't ment slate also in- be lost," he said. cludes the ambitious period feature, Whom Dunvegan Castle is one of the the Gods Love , most important historic castles in based on the book by Scotland. Joan Alexander. John MacLeod, who died last month from leukaemia, had held

the chief's title since succeeding

his grandmother Dame Flora in 1976.

Until the West Australian builder Chief Hugh MacLeod of MacLeod threw his hat in the ring, the title (Photographer: (Frederique was tipped to pass directly to Feder) John MacLeod's son Hugh.

Clan historians will now investi- gate the Australian's claims.

6 CLAN MACLEOD SOCIETY OF SOUTH AFRICA NEWSLETTER Cape Town MacLeods of Talisker

Back row:rowrowrow 1. Harold Reuben. 2. Robert John. 3. Lucy, wife of William. 4. Norman Fitzwalter. 5. Anne, wife of Charles. 6. Charles Henry. 7. Rufus George Robert.

Centre row:row 1. Agnes, wife of Robert . 2. William James. 3. Annie (neé Crichton) - Mother. 4. Charles Augustus – Father. 5. Ethel Francis Maria.

Front row:row 1. Augusta Mary. 2. Donald MacDonald . 3. Magnus.

he Australian MacLeods of Talisker have been William James MacLeod, born 1798, who came to T somewhat in the news recently, because of the Cape Town in 1822, was the 12 th child of Roderick recent correspondence from Guy MacLeod of Tal- MacLeod (1727-1815), Principal of King’s College, isker following the death of Chief John. It is of inter- Aberdeen. The Talisker genealogy in The est that a prominent MacLeod family in Cape Town MacLeods — the Genealogy of a Clan , Part 2,1968, are also of the Talisker family. They have given our by D. MacKinnon and A. Morrison, does not list Wil- society four presidents — Gordon was founding liam James. However, all the evidence points to the president from 1983-1985; Chris MacLeod (of Con- authenticity of this information. stantia) was president twice, from 1985–1986 and from 1991-1992; Guy MacLeod (of Plumstead) from The very interesting photograph accompanying 1997-1999 and Robert MacLeod (of Sea Point and these notes shows the family of Charles Augustus Kalk Bay ) from 2000-2002. MacLeod (1837-1909).

A Dip into the Archives . . .

Three past presidents of the Clan MacLeod Society of South Africa.

Left to right: Leonard McLeod (1986-88), Uisdean McLeod (1992-94) and Gordon MacLeod (1983-86), on board the yacht Dunvegan , owned by clansman Ken Nicol, in Cape Town harbour,

777 CLAN MACLEOD SOCIETY OF SOUTH AFRICA NEWSLETTER Notices

Material for Newsletters! STOP PRESS . . . Please help make our Newsletter interesting and enjoyable reading! . . . STOP PRESS Send along any stories or snippets for inclusion in the coming issues – jokes, pictures, Annual Dinner News news reports – anything that will be of interest to our clan When: Friday 16th November readers. My e-mail address is: 2007 [email protected]. Tel: (031) 7024415 Where: Cape Town Hotel 082 5747643 School Restaurant, Granger Brenda MacLeod Morris – Editor Bay.

Cost: R160 per person

Scottish Piper and Dancers in atten- Country Dancing Lessons dance. Wear your tartan if Have fun and get fit at the same time! Go possible. All family and along to the Scottish Country Dancing friends welcome. classes held in Rondebosch on Wednesdays at 19h30 with Campbell Tyler. " Every self-respecting MacLeod For more info, contact John or Liz William- should attend . . ." ——— Robert MacLeod son on (021) 6856317. (of Kalk Bay and Sea Point )

President’s Contact Details

Leonard McLeod E-mail : [email protected] Tel : (021) 8551753 Snail mail : Unit 160, Helderberg Village Somerset West

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