Biography

John Gillies, Seonaidh Theàrlaich, was born in 1897. He was from Digg in Staffin. There were six children in the family, including Seonaidh Beag (himself), Seonaidh Mòr, and Kirsty Beag and Kirsty Mòr. John left home at age 15 to go to work at sea. He sailed on the vessels carrying soldiers during the war and afterward worked for the Clyde Trust, the Skye Navy as it was known. His brother Charles worked the croft in Digg and John and his family would go home to visit the Isle of Skye every summer. When he came back to the island, John especially liked to take a walk up to the Quiraing.

John was a great man who loved singing. He especially loved the songs of Skye poets like Neil Beaton (Niall Gow), Donald Nicolson (A’ Saighdear), and Neil MacPherson (Niall Ceannaiche). His favourite song to sing was Òran a’ Loch Ness Monster by Donald Nicolson. As soon as he came ashore, he would write songs for the boys who were with him at sea. He loved reading and writing Gaelic, and he wrote some songs as well as translating English songs like Red River Valley for his son, the singer Alasdair Gillies. He was very proud when two of his children won Gold Medals at the Mòd, Alasdair in 1957 and Anna in 1952.

John died in 1971 at age of 87.

We thank Alasdair Gillies, John’s son, for this information.