John Mackellaich

John (his surname in Gaelic means son of the witch or hag !!) was born in Tobermory on the Isle of Mull. His ancestors include MacLachlan’s, Cameron’s, Macdonalds, Mackinnons, and Mackenzies, though you will not hear him boast about the “rogue” Campbell in his family tree.

He was educated at times in both England and Scotland, and even back then his teacher in England was occasionally a little surprised to be corrected, by this young Scottish “upstart” on misconceptions she pursued in terms of Scottish history. However John’s ties to the North of Scotland remained strong, and having married an Inverness girl (some 36 years ago) this is where they settled.

He has travelled extensively in the USA, where he learned a great deal about the very strong links between Scotland and America. In addition to a long career in the oil industry John also spent some time as a lecturer at Inverness College. More recently he did some work for The National Trust for Scotland at Culloden Battlefield. It will perhaps come as no surprise to learn that he delights in explaining the “Jacobite Cause”, and demonstrating weapons from this period. John is also a member of a local Episcopalian Church, and is at pains to remind people that, contrary to popular belief, a vast number of clansmen in the Jacobite army at Culloden were in fact part of this religious group. We rather suspect that John himself is actually an un-reconstructed Jacobite !!

In his late fifties John is another of those people who has “retired” in order to pursue work, and pastimes that he really enjoys. For the past six years he has frequently worked with Jim Johnstone as a driver/guide. Though he has toured all over Scotland his main area of interest is around the Highlands and Islands, including of course Loch Ness where he recently took part in a National Geographic film reconstructing one of the early “Monster” sightings. His own car (a 1935 Austin) took a starring role.