85 HIGH STREET, DINGWALL.
MISS Anne Moore MacKay was born at Bridge of Dee, Aberdeen, in the year 1837. Her parents, Thomas MacKay and Isobel MacKenzie, were godly persons. They were ecclesiastically connected with the Original Secession Church, and were members of the Original Secession congregation in the town of Aberdeen, of which the Rev. John Aitken was minister. Her father was an elder in that congregation. Her mother, to begin with, was a member of Gilcomston Chapel, where the famous and worthy Dr. Kidd preached. Dr. Kidd had a great respect for Isobel MacKenzie, and performed the ceremony when she was married to Thomas MacKay.
Miss Mackay was the youngest of a family of eight, five of whom died in infancy. We are not able to say at what period of her life she was converted, but her Christian life was an evidence that she had undergone a saving change. From the fact that she was a follower of the means of grace for the most part of her life, and able to discern when the gospel was preached, it would appear that “the good work” was begun in her at a comparatively early age. As her parents were eminent for piety, we may be sure that she, like Timothy, knew the Scriptures from her childhood.
After her parents’ death, and when she grew up to womanhood, she was, while at Aberdeen, a member of Union Free Church congregation, of which Rev. Alexander Bannatyne was minister. Though she worshipped in the Free Church, she was in principle of the Original Secession Church, and was a strong advocate of the “National Covenant.” But, as she saw that this Church was like other Churches in Scotland, beginning to depart from early purity, she could not worship with them any longer. As Rev. Mr. Bannatyne was a godly man, a faithful preacher, and a strong upholder of the doctrines of the Reformation, she sat under his ministry till he left Aberdeen. When Mr. Bannatyne left she told us that there was no minister in that town she could go to hear with profit to her soul. Thus deprived of the public ordinance of the gospel, she, like many others in Scotland at that time, groaned in bondage, and prayed for deliverance. She was looking for an answer to her prayers. She was not disappointed in her expectation; deliverance came at last. When she read in the newspapers that a stand was made in defence of the truth at the Assembly in 1893, she took courage, thanked God, and said, “I will join that party.” She told this herself. Our taking up a separate position that year in defence of God’s word, brought relief to many, in the Highlands especially. As there was no meeting in Aberdeen in connection with the Free Presbyterian Church, Miss MacKay and her sister (Mrs. Ross, a godly woman) went to reside in Glasgow as soon as they could conveniently
leave Aberdeen. Miss MacKay’s state of health caused considerable delay. They were in Glasgow for several years, members of St. Jude’s congregation, of which the Rev. Neil Cameron is minister.
After the death of her sister, Miss MacKay left Glasgow and came to Dingwall, where she resided to the end of her pilgrimage in the wilderness. She visited Dingwall several times on communion occasions in Dr. Kennedy’s time, so that she was not quite a stranger in the town, nor a stranger to some of the Lord’s people there, whose acquaintance she had formed during those visits, when she took up her residence in it. She was a worthy and useful member of our congregation in this town for the last seven years, and acted as collector of the Sustentation Fund till within a short time of her decease. She contributed to the Fund herself according to her means, and left a legacy of £100 for the General Sustentation Fund of the Free Presbyterian Church, £15 for the Dingwall Manse Debt Fund, and £10 for St. Jude’s Building Fund.
Miss MacKay was a most intelligent Christian woman, possessed of spiritual discernment to understand the Scriptures, well read in Church history, and an able defender of “the faith once delivered to the saints.” Many a contest she had with men and women who held unscriptural views on the subject of religion. If they did not yield to her scriptural arguments, and tried to defend themselves by the opinions of men, she did not hesitate to declare to them their awful doom if they persisted in their error till death. Nor did mere orthodox teaching satisfy her. As a living Christian she needed spiritual nourishment; and although the gospel table might be furnished with dishes of the most precious material, if there was no food in them, she could not relish the entertainment. The kingdom of heaven was within her, and she knew the voice of Christ. No thanks to her, for she was taught of God. Miss MacKay, in her own sphere, spared no effort to promote the glory of God and advance His kingdom in the world. She made herself useful for this purpose by writing as well as otherwise. She re-published several religious booklets for the benefit of sinners and saints. Notices of these have appeared in the Magazine of our Church. She also wrote letters to the newspapers on controversial subjects affecting the truth of the Bible and the cause of Christ in general. She could not endure to see the truth of the Bible run down by the “higher critics,” or any other enemies, without raising her voice against them. She was a public witness for Christ and His cause.
She was a great sufferer, and learnt by deep experience the truth which declares that it is “through much tribulation we must enter into the kingdom of heaven.” She was for many years afflicted with melancholia—a painful disease, causing gloomy, groundless fears and general depression of the spirits. On two occasions especially, she had a severe attack of this malady—first
at Aberdeen, and secondly at Dingwall. Through this infirmity Satan found a door of entrance to assault her with unbelief, with the intention of driving her to despair. But he was disappointed in his hellish design. The Lord came to her relief in her distress at Aberdeen, and she was, for several years after that severe ordeal, enjoying more or less of gospel liberty; and, although she suffered severe agony in her last conflict with the enemy, she was made more than a conqueror through Him that loved her and gave Himself for her. She died in peace, never again to be disturbed. She was, for a day or two before the end, unable to speak, but the beaming expression of her countenance indicated the inward peace of soul she enjoyed. She passed away quietly, and without the least struggle, on Thursday, the 7th August last. The last fight was over, the victory was won, and she entered into her everlasting rest, we believe, with the triumphant shout—”Thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Her remains were interred in Aberdeen the following Saturday. Mr. Murdo Urquhart, Craigview, Craig Road, Dingwall, and Mr. Alexander Maclean, Kirkhill, accompanied the funeral all the way to that town. We extend our sympathy to her surviving relatives in their bereavement.
We should not omit to mention in connection with this incomplete sketch, that Mr. Murdo Urquhart and his wife showed great kindness and attention to Miss MacKay in her last illness, and that Mrs. Macleod, Alness, and latterly Nurse Cameron, Kiltearn, attended her night and day to the end with commendable attention. Dr. Adam, the genial and skilful practitioner, whose cheerful visit would be good medicine to a patient, spared no pains for the recovery of Miss MacKay, but he could not drive away the strong hand of death which was laid heavily on her mortal body. “Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the Lord delivereth them out of them all.” “There remaineth . . . a rest to the people of God.”
The removal of the Lord’s people from our midst has a solemn voice to us. The most of the fathers and mothers in Israel who adorned our Church in the past, have been called away to be with Christ, which, for them, is far better. Will the young seek grace to take up their place?
D. M. F.
“I will bless the Lord that ever there was such a thing as the free grace of God, and a free ransom given for captive souls. Only, alas! guiltiness maketh me ashamed to apply to Christ, and to think it pride in me to put out my unclean and withered hand to such a Saviour. But it is neither shame nor pride for a drowning man to swim to a rock, nor for a shipwrecked soul to run himself ashore upon Christ.”—Rutherford.
“O happy and blessed death, that golden bridge laid over by Christ, my Lord, betwixt time’s clay banks and heaven’s shore.”—Rutherford.