Andrew Macdonald

Andrew Macdonald (born Andrew Donald) (1757–1790), pen name Matthew Bramble, was a Scottish clergyman, poet and playwright. Early life and education Andrew MacDonald was born on 27 February 1757, the son of George Donald, a market gardener. The family lived at the foot of Leith Walk, in Leith, the busy port for Edinburgh on the Firth of Forth. Andrew Donald (as he was then known) attended the Grammar School in Leith and at an early age he demonstrated a flair for music. The Donald family was Episcopalian; the non-juror Scottish Episcopal Church at this time was heavily proscribed following its support for Bonnie Prince Charlie in the Jacobite rising a few years before. After 1745 the English passed laws to restrict Episcopalian clergy from officiating, unless they swore allegiance to the King. Andrew attended Edinburgh University until 1775. Another resident in Leith at this period was the Scottish Episcopalian bishop, Robert Forbes. The precocious gardener's son impressed Bishop Forbes, who sent him to study at the University of Edinburgh with a view to ordination. Although Scottish Episcopal ordination was officially banned at the time, Bishop Forbes ordained Andrew Donald into deacon's orders in 1775. It was at this time that the surname was changed to Macdonald (also written as M’Donald).