The best preparation for the future is the present well seen to, and the last duty done.

MacDonald grew up in the Congregational Church with an atmosphere of Calvinism. He took his degree at the University of Aberdeen and then went to London studying at Highbury College for the Congregational ministry. His father a farmer was one of the MacDonalds of Glen Coe and a direct descendant of one of the families that suffered in the massacre of 1692.

He is now known particularly for his poignant fairy tales and fantasy works and their influence on later authors such as W. K. S.