Memorial to Alexander Dingwall McRae

Image: © Lairich Rig Taken: 27 Jun 2014

"Erected by friends at home and abroad in affectionate remembrance of Alex'r Dingwall McRae late Sub Editor, Scottish American Journal, who died at Dumbarton 31st December 1873, aged 24 years. A total abstainer from his earliest years, and possessing great natural gifts, he seemed destined, had his years been prolonged, to take a prominent position as an earnest and powerful advocate, both on the platform and by his pen, of all moral and social reforms. His demise is regretted by all who shared his friendship." He had served his apprenticeship locally as a compositor to the Bennett Brothers (of the Dumbarton Herald – Image), but an aptitude for photography saw him attached to the newspaper's reporting staff. He later worked in Glasgow, in the offices of another newspaper, the Star. In Glasgow, he became one of the vice-presidents of the Young Men's Temperance Association. He set off for New York in April 1872, taking up the post described in the inscription. His health was adversely affected by severe weather there, and he returned to Dumbarton in April of the following year. He did not recover fully, and a relapse led to his death at the end of that year. [Reference: pages 132-33 of "The God's Acres of Dumbarton" (Donald MacLeod, 1888).]

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