More than £2,500 has been presented to the cancer ward at Raigmore Hospital in memory of one of Scotland’s top Gaelic singers.
Maggie Macdonald, 63, belonged to the Campbells of Greepe in Skye – one of the country’s best-known and accomplished families of traditional Gaelic singers.
Mrs Macdonald, who worked as a primary teacher and taught throughout Scotland, including in Skye, Inverness and Fort Augustus, won the prestigious National Mod Gold Medal in 1994.
She died in the oncology ward after a short illness.
And her family asked for donations instead of flowers at her funeral to say thank you for the care she received at the Inverness hospital and the support given to her relatives.
Her husband John ‘Hearach’ Macdonald and daughter Shona visited the ward to hand over a cheque for £2,530.
Mrs Macdonald, who was born in Glasgow, sang regularly as a youngster.
She joined the Glasgow Islay Gaelic Choir at 17 and helped re-form the award-winning Inverness Gaelic Choir in 1991.
Mrs Macdonald was a founding member of the Gaelic band, Cliar, and performed with the family project, The Campbells of Greepe.
She also served as a board director on Fèis Rois, and mentored young tutors following in her footsteps. Feisean nan Gaidheal chief executive Arthur Cormack said: “Being around Maggie was invariably a joy.”
And Mrs Macdonald’s cousin Inverness Gaelic Choir conductor Mary Ann Kennedy said: “We have all lost a sister, a friend, a mammy, a colleague, the most exquisite musician and a beautiful soul.
“Whenever we sing from now on, we will forever have Maggie’s voice in harmony with us.”
She is survived by her husband, two grown-up children, Shona and Fraser, and five grandchildren.
