John MacDougall Hay (23 October 1880 – 10 December 1919) was a Scottish novelist. He was born and grew up in Tarbert, Argyll. He graduated in 1900 with an M.A. from the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

. He was initially a school teacher in Stornaway, but then became a

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

minister. He was the father of Sheena Campbell Hay (1911–1987) and

George Campbell Hay George Campbell Hay (1915–1984) was a Scottish Symbolist poet and translator, who wrote in Scottish Gaelic, Scots and English. He used the patronymic Deòrsa Mac Iain Dheòrsa. He also wrote poetry in French, Italian and Norwegian, and tr ...

, the

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 ...

poet. He is mainly known for his novel ''Gillespie'' (1914), (brief biography) set in a fictionalised version of his home town of Tarbert. It received favourable reviews when it was published in 1914, but was largely forgotten until it was re-discovered in the late 20th century. He also wrote a second novel ''Barnacles'' (1916), and a collection of poems ''Their Dead Sons'' (1918). In the year of his death, he was planning a third novel set in the Church of Scotland and to be entitled ''The Martyr''. In poor health for much of his adult life, he died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

at the age of only 39.

References

(1869-1901) and J. McDougall Hay (1881-1919)', in ''The Great Shadow House: Essays on the Metaphysical Tradition in Scottish Fiction'', Polygon Cosmos, Edinburgh, pp. 59 - 65, Scottish novelists 20th-century Scottish novelists 1880 births 1919 deaths Scottish Renaissance 20th-century ministers of the Church of Scotland 20th-century Scottish Presbyterian ministers 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis Alumni of the University of Glasgow People from Kintyre Tuberculosis deaths in Scotland {{UK-novelist-stub

References

Further reading