Angus Macdonald, Oban.
IT is with much regret that we have to chronicle (briefly, this month) the death of Mr. Angus Macdonald, Oban, one of the oldest and worthiest men in the Free Presbyterian Church. Angus was in his ninety-eighth year, and was recognised by all as a lively and deeply-exercised Christian. His prayers in public were highly valued by our Oban people. A wrestler for Christ and His cause in Scotland has been removed, and the blank is great. Angus was able to attend the church until the Sabbath before that on which he died, but he seems to have caught a chill from which he never recovered. He was visited in his last illness by the Rev. Walter Scott, who has been officiating in Oban for some Sabbaths, and other friends, and was able to follow their remarks until a day or two before the end. We hope that a more extended notice will yet appear of this very precious man. “Help, Lord, for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men” (Psalm xii. 1). J. S. S.
Mrs. Williamson, Helmsdale.
It is with sorrow we record the death of Mrs. Williamson, a member of the Free Presbyterian congregation, Helmsdale, which took place at her daughter’s house in Gordonbush, Brora, in July of last year, at the age of seventy-eight years. Mrs. Williamson was born in Dalchalim, Brora, and was of a God-tearing family. She was quiet and humble in walk and conversation, and very seldom spoke of herself. We are told that it was under the preaching of the late Dr. Kennedy, Dingwall, that she was brought from darkness to light. She was a woman near the Lord at a throne of grace, and received remarkable answers for others under soul and bodily trouble. She was very fond of relating anecdotes of the “men” of her young days, such as Sandy Gair, Colin Sutherland, and Gordon Ross, and many others. One time, while staying at Navidale, she had occasion to go to the shore to purchase some fresh herrings to cure for winter use. At that season herrings were very scarce and very dear, but before going to the pier she visited Gordon Ross, but did not tell him her reason for coming to Helmsdale that day. Their conversation became so spiritually interesting that earthly things were forgotten, but all at once the thought came to Mrs. Williamson, “Oh, it’s too late for me to get herrings now.” Just as the thought flashed through her mind, Gordon said, “Oh, you are thinking you will not get herrings to-day, but you will not go far from this until you will get the quantity you require, and at your own price.” She did not take much heed to the words at the time, but bade him good-bye, and left. But she only went about two hundred yards from him when two fishermen met her, carrying a basket of fresh herrings, which she purchased at her own price without going to the shore at all, just as Gordon had said.
Some time before she died she was unable to attend the public means, but the Bible was her constant companion. She was not a stranger to the temptations of Satan and of her own heart. Near her end she was often heard repeating and humming the Psalms. Her daughter, showing signs of sorrow and distress, she said, “Don’t be sorrowful or afraid for me; I am hearing and seeing the angels about the bed.” Her end was peace. (Psalm xxxvii. 37.) J. A.
Helen M’Leod, Marrel.
OUR Helmsdale correspondent also sends the following brief notice:—Just as the old year had almost run its course, on the 30th December, 1910, Helen M’Leod, Marrel, another of the Free Presbyterian congregation, Helmsdale, passed from time to eternity, after eight days’ illness, at the age of twenty-six years. She was of a quiet and unassuming character, a regular attendant at the means of grace, and of a discerning turn of mind. Her remains were interred in the Helmsdale burying ground on 2nd January. The funeral was marked with a solemnity very seldom seen, and was attended by a large number of people. “Him that honoureth me will I honour.” Much sympathy is felt for her parents, brother, and sisters. “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”