Celtic League member Bill McCallum passed away on 2 September 2995. Bill was interested in Home Rule for Scotland and for all other fourth world nations from a young age. He traced much of his interest to an article which appeared in the Daily Express in the 1950s about a fluent Cornish speaking couple who married through the medium of the language.

Bill studied law at Glasgow University and worked at Glasgow Corporation (and later Glasgow District Council) in the town Clerk’s Conveyencing Department from 1967 until taking early retirement in 1996.

Bill had many different interests. He was interested in history, politics and world affairs. He loved books and had an extensive library. He was passionately interested in languages. He especially loved Esparanto which he spoke fluently and Gaelic which he learnt to read and write fluently. He was interested in all the Celtic languages and had a particular soft spot for Cornish. He was strongly opposed to linguistic imperialism and to the worldwide spread of the English language.

Since he retired he had been working on an extensive Gaelic dictionary which his son A;asdair is going to complete. Just before his death, he had been learning Chinese, Latin and Ancient Greek.

Bill was a member of the Scottish National Party and of the Celtic League since he was a boy. He frequently wrote articles for Carn on Gaelic related issues and said that the happiest day of his life was 11 September 1997 when Scotland voted decisively for Home Rule. He also believed firmly in the rights of all stateless nations worldwide and supported the autonomy movements and language movements  for all small and endangered nations worldwide whether close to home such as Wales, Cornwall or the Isle of Man or further afield such as the Baltic States and Kosova. Bill was also committed to a range of other progressive causes related to the environment and social justice.

Bill suffered from a neurological condition which affected his mobility from the late 1980s onwards and for which he had major surgery in 1988. This meant that his daily activities were restricted and that he was unable to undertake all the things he would have liked. However, he contented himself at home with his books and computers. Unfortunately, over the last year, his general health deteriorated, culminating in his admission to the Royal Infirmary at the end of August. He is survived by his wife Maureen and children Alasdair and Mairead.

                                                                                    Alasdair MacCaluim