Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Macleod, John (1757-1841)
MACLEOD, JOHN (1757–1841), presbyterian divine and Gaelic scholar, born in Skye in 1757, was educated at the Aberdeen University. Graduating in 1776, he was licensed to preach by the presbytery of Aberdeen in 1778. After assisting Principal Campbell in Aberdeen he became parish minister of Harris in 1779. In 1795 he was made a D.D. of Aberdeen, and prior to 1804 was appointed deputy-lieutenant of the county of Inverness. In 1805 he was transferred to Kilmodan, Argyllshire, in 1809 to Kilmarnock, and in 1816 to Dundonald, Ayrshire, where he died 6 Feb. 1841. He took a deep interest in education in the highlands, and after having been superintendent of the schools in Glenelg of the Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge, he was elected by the general assembly of the church of Scotland in 1816 one of the committee appointed to publish a Gaelic bible for pulpit use. The work, completed mostly under his superintendence, was published in Edinburgh in 1826. He was also the general editor of the 'Gaelic Dictionary' (2 vols.) published by the Highland Society of Scotland, Edinburgh, 1828. He is author of the article on Harris in Sir John Sinclair's 'Statistical Account of Scotland,' x. 342-92.
[Hew Scott's Fasti Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ, ii. 113, 176, iii. 24, 139; Gent. Mag. 1841, pt. i. p. 549; Reid's Bibliotheca Scoto-Celtica; Introduction to Highland Soc.'s Gaelic Dict.]