Cornerstone CORNERSTONE_189_website_28 | Page 18

Cornerstone No. 189, page 18 Great Scot! 66: Donald Caskie … no, you are not on the There follow the adventures of the wrong column, and (as I’ve written before) read on! We deal here with Donald – for very good reasons Caskie. He was nicknamed thus – as you now shall peruse (I hope). DS was born in Bowmore (Islay) on May 22nd, 1902. Bowmore – known for its distillery (one of several on the island) but also for its circular church (now, why would a church be round in shape? Either ask the Minister or ask the undersigned…). No matter, for Donald Caskie was to become celebrated… and neglected, as you will see. Our subject attended the local school and thereafter went to Dunoon Grammar and then the University of Edinburgh. He became a minister of the Church of Scotland in 1924 and reported for duty at the parish of Gretna St. Andrews; but continental Europe was calling and in 1935 Caskie became Minister of the Scots Kirk in Paris. That would have been that were it not for a little matter called World War II. Donald Caskie became readily involved in the activities of the French Resistance when, after the annexation of Austria and the invasions of Poland, Belgium then France, he preached, each Sunday, against the Nazi regime. Realising that Caskie’s