I would I were in the kingdom of heaven if it be as you and Mr. Graham take it for!" said Clementina. "You must be in it, my lady, or you couldn't wish it to be such as it is." "Can one be in it and yet seem to himself to be out of it. Malcolm?" "So many are out of it that seem to be in it, my lady, that one might well imagine it the other way around with some.

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.