REV. JOHN MACDONALD, D.D.
Dr Macdonald, of Ferintosh, as “The Apostle of the North,” is a household word in the Highlands. As an orator, preacher, and evangelist, no man of his day was the instrument of greater good to his countrymen, by whom his memory will be warmly cherished for generations. In The Gaelic Messenger (1829-30) appeared the first and the best of his poems, which have been the delight of more than one generation of Highlanders. This was a poem of three parts—The Christian on his Journey to, at, and beyond Jordan. Some of his other poems are biographical. His poetical works were published in a neat volume in 1846. Here are a few verses translated from the “Christian’s Journey:”—
ON THE WAY TO JORDAN.
He often sought for special grace
At mercy’s fountain free,
To keep up aye a cheerful face
Hard though the heart might be;
And by that smile of happiness—
That fragrance sweet he found—
He helped a holy cheerfulness