Calum MacDonald (

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

: Calum Dòmhnallach /kalˠəm dɔ̃ːnəlˠəx/; born 12 November 1953) is a musician who was a founder member of, and percussionist in, the Scottish

Celtic rock Celtic rock is a genre of folk rock, as well as a form of Celtic fusion which incorporates Celtic music, instrumentation and themes into a rock music context. It has been prolific since the early 1970s and can be seen as a key foundation of the ...

band

Runrig Runrig were a Scottish Celtic rock band formed on the Isle of Skye in 1973. From its inception, the band's line-up included brothers and songwriters Rory MacDonald (musician), Rory MacDonald (bass, vocals) and Calum MacDonald (musician), Calum ...

, as well as their primary songwriter with his older brother, Rory MacDonald from 1973 to 2018. Generally, Rory wrote the melodies, and Calum the lyrics.

Early life

MacDonald was born in

Lochmaddy Lochmaddy ( , "Loch of the Hounds") is the administrative centre of North Uist in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. ''Na Madaidhean'' (the wolves/hounds) are rocks in the bay after which the loch, and subsequently the village, are named. Lochmaddy i ...

, North Uist before moving to

Portree Portree (; , ) is the capital and largest town of the Isle of Skye in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland.W.H. Murray, Murray, W.H. (1966) ''The Hebrides''. London. Heinemann. Pages 154-155. It is a civil parishes in Scotland, civil parish and lies ...

, on the

Isle of Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye, is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated by the Cuillin, the rocky slopes of which provide some of ...

, for secondary school. It was in Skye that MacDonald and his brother

Rory Rory is a given name of Gaelic origin. It is an anglicisation of the /''Ruaidhrí'' and /''Ruaraidh'' and is common to the Irish, Highland Scots and their diasporas. for the given name "Rory". The meaning of the name is "red king", composed ...

formed

along with Blair Douglas and subsequently Donnie Munro. He attended

Jordanhill College Jordanhill College of Education was a higher education college in Jordanhill, Glasgow, Scotland. It opened as a teacher training college in 1921. The college merged with the University of Strathclyde in 1993, becoming its Faculty of Educati ...

and worked as a P.E. teacher at Lasswade High School and other schools in Lothian until 1983 when he became a professional musician.

Later life

During the 1980s, MacDonald's Christian faith deepened and this influence began to be felt in his lyrical content, in both Gaelic and English. He was based in Edinburgh for the 1980s and early 1990s before relocating his young family to

Contin Contin ( Gaelic: Cunndainn) is a Ross-shire village, and a civil parish and community council area between Strathpeffer and Garve in the Highland council area of Scotland. The parish has a population of 675.Highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Africa * Highlands, Johannesburg, South Africa * Highlands, Harare, Zimbab ...

. MacDonald has contributed main vocals to a handful of Runrig tunes, including ''Dust'' and ''Faileas air an Airigh''. His son, Donald MacDonald - affectionately known as Seeds - is also a songwriter and performer and has his own band Donald MacDonald & the Islands.

References

External links

The Official Runrig website
People from Uist 20th-century Scottish male singers Scottish percussionists Scottish male songwriters Living people 1953 births Runrig members People educated at Portree High School British male songwriters {{Scotland-musician-stub