(died about 1 March 1894), figure in local legend. (Alex MacGillivray, Alex Kenneth MacGillivray) Parents: Kenneth MacGillivray and his wife Sara MacLeod. Born presumably on his parents’ farm, which was on Lot 4 in the 8th Concession of Caledonia Township, on the Glengarry-Prescott boundary and about a mile and a half west of McCrimmon. Alex MacGillivray spent some 34 years in the United States before returning to the home farm, which by then was being operated by his brother. The Eastern Ontario Review (the Vankleek Hill newspaper) of Friday 2 March 1894 carried the following news story (copied in full here),

     “Frightful Accident on the Lochiel Road. Another terrible occurrence, the result of reckless driving and drink, has to be recorded. On Wednesday afternoon, Alex. McGillivary [sic], of No. 4 in the 8th of Caledonia, left the town, in charge of a team of horses. He had been delivering wood, and was the worse for liquor when he left. On the way he passed several others, but a little south of the cheese factory, he got into collision with another team, was thrown off his seat, and lost control of the horses. In this manner he was dragged for some distance, and sustained such terrible injuries as will probably end in death. Both his nether limbs were fractured; one near the knee, and the other a compound comminuted fracture of the upper thigh.

     “Since the above was in type, amputation of one limb was performed by Dr. McDonald, assisted by other local surgeons. The poor fellow rallied afterwards and talked hopefully, but in a short time, syncope ensued, and he died in less than fifteen minutes. Many of his friends had come in from his home, including his brother and sister. His corpse was taken home by them, and will be buried to-morrow. The deceased was about 58, a bachelor, and somewhat of a cripple, which doubtless helped to his sad end.”

     Alex MacGillivray was buried at St. Columba Cemetery, Kirk Hill. The aforementioned amputation must have taken place at the Vankleek Hill hotel in which Alex died. The surgeon already mentioned was probably Dr Alexander Macdonald (d. 1952).

     The story of Alex MacGillivray’s death is of interest in connection with the belief, once common among the Glengarry Scots, that sometimes before a person’s death portents were experienced in the form of strange lights, noises, and so forth. One New Year’s Eve, when the males of the McCrimmon West neighbourhood were making their traditional “Bonach Night” round of visits in the neighbourhood, the older men in the group went into the MacGillivray house, while some of the boys peered in the house windows and others of the boys sought the shelter of the barn. Those at the barn heard or thought they heard the sounds of someone hitching the horses, and harness metal rattling, and someone talking to the horses–and some people, after Alex’s horrifying death, suspected that these sounds had been the portents of Alex’s death through misadventure with his horses. Jimmy, mentioned elsewhere in this dictionary as the studious and book-loving brother of John Archie McCrimmon, was one of the men in the house that evening, and two other brothers, Danny (later a farmer west of McCrimmon) and Neilly (who went to the West in 1906 and farmed for many years at Vermilion, Alberta) were among the boys outside.

     Neilly, questioned in 1963 about the experience, confirmed that he had heard the sounds in the stable (“somebody” was in the stable, he said more than once) but he seemed disinclined to see any supernatural significance in the happening.

Lochinvar to Skye, 394, 580-581 * present author’s notes, from c. 1950 and1963, based on recollections of Jimmy and Neilly MacCrimmon, and other local sources; the present author’s grandfather MacGillivray was present at the amputation * Neilly MacCrimmon (8 Oct. 1882-30 Aug. 1965): Lochinvar to Skye, 382; Vermilion Memories (1967?) 23 (with ox team, untitled picture); personal knowledge * Bonach (Bannock) Night: see Glengarry Life 1989 p. 13 for a description of this custom (from Tweedsmuir History of Dunvegan)