Biography

Angus Lamont was born at Cornaigmore in Tiree on 17 April 1840 to John Lamont (1801-1875) and Catherine MacDonald (1805-1863). Although originally enrolling as a medical student at Glasgow Univeristy, Angus eventually chose the life of a sailor and became a merchant seaman. After his apprenticeship on the Hall line, he eventually rose in the ranks to captain a number of ships, including the City of Lahore. He sadly passed away at the young age of 46 while abroad, and was buried in San Francisco.

Angus married Effie MacKinnon (1843-1908) in Glasow in 1870 and the couple went on to have four daughters and a son. Although Angus is said to have composed a number of songs, only one, Lagnacruachan, appears to have survived in oral tradition, and then later in print. Hector Cameron, author of Na Bàird Thirisdeach, tells us that Angus' wife Effie was a sister of the famous captain Donald MacKinnon of the China Tea Clipper, Taeping.

References and Further Reading:

Cameron, Rev. Hector, Na Bàird Thirisdeach (The Tiree Association, 1932), pp 222-224.
MacLennan, Hugh Dan, 'Shinty: Some Fact and Fiction in the Nineteenth Century', in Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness vol. LIX (1994-1996), pp.148-274 (198-99).

List of compositions

Lag Nan Cruachan