Skye Pioneers and “The Island”

Skye Pioneers and “The Island” by Malcolm A. Macqueen (1878-1960) was first published in 1929 by the Stovell Company in Winnipeg. It is one of the first, if not the first, published work of genealogy and family history treating the settlers from Skye, Scotland, who came to Prince Edward Island, Canada, in the 19th Century and went on to occupy positions of prominence in Canada and North America. This edition, published in conjunction with the Belfast Historical Society of Prince Edward Island, seeks to make this difficult-to-find work available to the general public in a reformatted and easy-to-read edition.The introduction, “Malcolm Macqueen and the Writing of Skye Pioneers,” was researched and written specifically for this edition. Besides placing Skye Pioneers within the context of published North American genealogy, it provides a succinct biography of the author and suggests when and how he wrote the book.

The introduction also gives insight into the author’s goals and his view of the significance of the immigration from Skye for the development of Canada.

This is a must-read book for anyone interested in the early Scottish settlement in North America and of particular value to the many today who are descended from the settlers who came from Skye aboard the Polly, Oughton and Dykes (1803) and the Mary Kennedy (1829).