Keith Norman Macdonald

Keith Norman Macdonald was born on Skye on 23 November 1834, the son of Lieutenant Charles Macdonald. He trained in Edinburgh and became a Licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1858. He held posts in Skye and Wales before moving to Myanmar, where he worked as Civil Surgeon and Sanitation Officer at Pyay. From this experience he published several works, including 'The practice of medicine among the Burmese' (1879) and articles in the Indian Medical Gazette. He returned to Britain in 1869 owing to ill health and practised in Cupar before returning to Skye, where he served as Resident Medical Officer at the Gesto Hospital until his retirement in 1896. He also made a significant contribution to the preservation of traditional Scottish music, most notably through 'Puirt a Beul: the vocal dance music of the Scottish Gaels', published in 1901. He died in Edinburgh on 1 November 1913.