(1789-15 Feb. 1867 ), clergyman. (name also spelled Munro in sources) Born in the Parish of Kilmichael, Argyleshire, Scotland. His father’s name was Malcolm Monro. Donald Munro, the subject of the present article, studied at the universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh. He was a student of medicine before deciding to become a minister. In 1849, he came to Canada as a licentiate of the Colonial Committee of the Church of Scotland. The Presbytery of Glengarry, in May 1849, directed him to divide his services between Finch in Stormont County and Lochiel in GC. In Dec. 1850, he was inducted as minister of the Finch Presbyterian congregation. He sought leave to retire in 1864, when he was 75, and the permission was granted. His wife’s name was Mary Campbell. His daughter Margery Monro married the Rev. John Watson, minister at Williamstown. His son, Dr John C. Monro (1827-1899), practised medicine in Finch Township. The Rev. Donald Monro was a Gaelic speaker, and he wrote or edited a volume of Gaelic songs or poems, which was published probably in Scotland shortly before he emigrated to Canada. In July 1898, Duncan Monroe of Cedar Brae, Cornwall, wrote to Alexander Fraser, the future Archivist of Ontario, saying that after long effort he had been able to borrow a copy of a “Gaelic Song book published or rather composed” by the Rev. Donald Munro [sic], Presbyterian minister of Finch Township, who had died about thirty years ago, and that he was now letting Fraser borrow the copy. (Archives of Ontario, Papers of Alexander Fraser) In an article of 1903 Fraser wrote that the “volume of Gaelic verses appeared in 1848, with an encouraging list of subscribers,” and that Monro “still lives in the well gotten up volume of Gaelic poetry which he gave to his countrymen.” It has not proved possible to find a copy of this book, or any reference to a copy seen later than 1903, and it is quite possible (indeed, a pessimist would say with some force of argument that it is all but certain) that no copy now exists.

MacMillan, Kirk, 38, 57, 282, 333-335 * Harkness 455 * Alexander Fraser, “The Gaelic Folk-Songs of Canada,” Royal Society of Canada, Transactions, Section II, 1903, p. 57 * Whyte, i, 345 (as Munro)