For some, Friday 13th can be extremely unlucky – but for one Dingwall couple it was the start of six decades of joy.
Hamish, 85 and Joan, 80, MacDonald first met at the dancing in 1957, just a short time after the soon-to-become Mrs MacDonald moved to the area from the Western Isles to pursue a career in the hotel trade.
Following two years of dating, they said “I do” on Friday, November 13, 1959, at Castle Street Church of Scotland in Dingwall.
Celebrating their diamond anniversary yesterday in the same Ross-shire town, Mrs MacDonald said – luckily – in no way were the couple superstitious.
She said: “It was lucky for us. We have had a good marriage, plenty love. We enjoy each other’s company still and we enjoy doing things together; we are very much together.”
Their daughter Carol, a teacher in Aberdeen, added: “A lot of people wouldn’t want to get married on Friday 13th but they didn’t mind and it has worked well for them.”
To mark their 60th anniversary, the couple received a special card from the Queen on Wednesday, which Mrs MacDonald said was “simply lovely”.
They marked the milestone occasion surrounded by their four grandchildren – aged 19 to 28 – and two children Carol, 58, and Hamish, 56, during a meal at the Cottage Bar and Restaurant.
When asked what the secret was to 60 years of blissful marriage, Mrs MacDonald said: “I think its plenty love and we like the same things; we like walking, gardening, dancing – when we were younger, Ross County Football – we go to the football – and we are always together.”
“We enjoy doing things together, we are very much together.”