Why I’m better known as is ‘Dulcie’s granddaughter’ — 150 Years of the RSJ
The Ross-shire Journal celebrated its 150th birthday yesterday (February 19). Wester Ross journalist Iona MJ MacDonald has shared her pride in her home and paper.
I was four-years-old when I made my official Ross-shire Journal debut. My P1 photo appeared on the front page of a November 2010 edition of the RSJ, in an article written by none other than my now-editor, Hector Mackenzie. This could easily be described as a coincidence, but I like to think of it as fate.
Therefore, my journey with the RSJ began long before my role as a journalist here, and long before I even knew where ‘Ross-shire’ was. I just knew of it as my home village of Ullapool, and the places nearby where my classmates and family came from.
Like most teenagers, I often have mixed feelings about my home-village, but an unconditional love for it always seems to persist. I don’t believe I chose this exactly, but my heart undeniably resides in Ross-shire — and I know this because my desire to give it the coverage it deserves is relentless. A very large part of my identity and heritage can be summed up with simply, ‘Wester Ross’.
When I began my post at the RSJ, with an empty books of contacts, I often introduced myself as ‘Dulcie and Iona’s granddaughter’ — the title which I am best known by. I recently discovered that in Dingwall, unsurprisingly, I’m also best-known as ‘Dulcie and Iona’s granddaughter’. It’s not that my grandparents are people of high-power or millionaires — they are simply very well-known in places like Wester Ross, after having lived there for generations. As my book of contacts grows longer every day, the more I realise how unfathomably large the Highland web of connections is.
Being known as my grandparents’ granddaughter gives me a feeling of pride that I can’t quite put into words. But I know that it is the same pride I feel when serving the readers of the Ross-shire Journal.
