Biography

Neil Alexander Ross was born in Inverness in 1910 to Hugh Ross (1880-1956) and Anne MacDonald (1884-1946), and was named after his maternal grandfather. Neil unfortinately had a short life, but he was musically gifted and well-liked. A newspaper remarked at the time of his death in 1949 that he was "the possessor of an attractive baritone voice and medallist at musical festivals [...] well known on the concert-stages in the North, particularly in Inverness. He had a happy personality and enjoyed the friendship of a wide circle of friends."

Neil was known for singing all sorts of songs, from choral to Scots traditional, and won the first prize at a music festival in Inverness in 1932. However, he is most remembered for his Gaelic singing, and particularly his participation in Gaelic quartets. He was one of the members of the St Columba Gaelic Quartet [11356] that recorded a gramophone record for the Columbia label in Dublin in 1931; the same group, albeit credited as individuals, recorded three discs of Psalms for the Parlophone label in Glasgow in 1934.

Neil was a grocer to trade, and married Mary Sutherland (1914-2002) in 1940. They moved from Inverness to Fearn, then to Bonar Bridge, and finally to Nairn, where Neil sadly died at the age of only 38 and was buried in Tomnahurich Cemetery.