Hi Christine, Many thanks for your message 26 June. I'm very grateful for all your efforts trying to sort out my Sutherland forebears. As Cathy said, "What a girl eh!!" Sorry I missed out the dates. Here they are :- My g.grandparents were Hugh GIBSON b 7.12.1829 at Evelix, Dornoch, d 14.3.1911 at Golspie and Margaret McDONALD b 1.11.1825 at Knockarthur, Rogart, d 21.12.1906 at Golspie. They were married 19.12.1852 at the Free Church Manse,Rogart. (by the way they were both buried at Dornoch Cemetery, not Golspie. I have visited their grave.) Hugh's father was Thomas GIBSON b c1775 somewhere in Sutherland, d 27.8.1841 at Camore, Dornoch. His mother was Isabella McKAY b c1793 in Dornoch, d 4.10.1873 at Camore. Thomas and Isabella were married 8 July 1820 at Dornoch. I don't know where they were buried. Margaret's father was Alexander McDONALD b c1797 at Rogart, d 10.9.1871 at Knockarthur. Her mother was Elizabeth (Betsy,Betty) McKAY bap 29.5.1804 at Proncy, Dornoch, d 4.7.1866 at Knockarthur. I don't know when and where they married or where they were buried. Alexander was a younger brother of Sergt James McDONALD, who you mentioned as being married to Barbara McKAY from Golspie. Alexander and James were sons of Norman McDONALD and Janet GUNN, who were married in Golspie on 13.12.1774. Birth and death dates unknown. I note you added Alistair to Norman's name - I haven't come across that before. You talked about the number of articles which tried to determine who was Sir John A.McDONALD's grandfather. That surprises me considering that his official biography states that his grandfather was John McDONALD married on 18.8.1778 to Miss Jean McDONALD of Rogart ( no relation). They had a large family including Hugh, the father of Sir John, who was born in Rogart on 12.12.1782. The family later moved to Dornoch where John owned a shop near the Cathedral. Hugh began work as an apprentice in his father's shop. On reaching his majority he set out for Glasgow and later to Canada with all his family in 1820. I see Ian MORRISON's message 27 June confirms much of this. None of this however ties in with the other story about Hugh which claims he owned shops at Dalmore and Rovie in Strath Fleet. You mentioned a cairn at Dalmore and this would seem to support this story. ( No, I haven't visited this cairn although I must have passed close to it and yes, I would certainly like a photo of it.) There is another theory however, which suggests that this Hugh of Strath Fleet may have been Sir John's g.grandfather ie John's father. To add to the confusion I did find in the Rogart OPR a birth entry " Paul son of Hugh McDONALD in Rovie bap 7.9.1771." Colonel Gilbert GUNN claims that Sergt James McDONALD was a nephew of John, Sir John's grandfather. If that is correct my g.grandmother Margaret McDONALD would have been a second cousin of Sir John. In 1881 I called on David GIBSON, my father's first cousin of Golspie, just before David died. He of course was a grandson of Margaret and he farmed at Rovie Farm in Strath Fleet for 20 years from 1928. He always claimed he was related to Sir John. Christine, does all this make me sound like those good McDONALD descendants you mentioned in Canada, out there searching and trying to establish a connection to Sir John. You'd be right. Thanks for the information about the major. I was somewhat surprised to see that he was the progenitor of all the Rogart McDONALDs. He must have been a busy lad. Some years ago I copied all the McDONALDs in the Rogart OPR. The earliest record was the birth of Donald to Donald McDONALD at Knockarthur in 1768 with a further 12 births in the following 4 years. Then there was a gap from 1772 to 1795. After that and until civil registration started in 1855, there were a further 135 births recorded. That doesn't include those not recorded, such as my Alexander. Thank you to Cathy Wagner, who has come up with another Major McDONALD. If he was born, as she says, about 1785 - 95, then he belongs to the same generation as the families of John (Sir John's grandfather) and Norman and may in fact belong to one of those two families. Once again I've rabbited on at great length. Sorry. I'll try to be briefer next time. Yes Christine I certainly am enjoying the list and also look forward to more debate and particularly more enlightenment. Jim