Morton Gilfillan

(1934 – 1971)

If you were fortunate to attend Calderhead High School in the late sixties 
then you will no doubt have very fond memories of Morton Gilfillan history teacher , 
(Monty as we often called him).

Morton was indeed a remarkable person who died tragically at the age of only 37. 
Born in Shotts, and locally educated, he then attended Glasgow University, 
obtaining an MA in history and also winning the History Medal.

After his graduation and qualifying as a teacher at Moray House, he spent some 
time teaching history in Canada’s Northern Territories and during his stay there he 
learned Gaelic and learned how to play the bagpipes he also learned to play the 
bagpipes and played  for one of the pipe band there. On returning to Scotland, 
he taught in the island of Benbecula,

Apart from being a clever man he was also extremely interesting, his hobbies were 
very varied, including gardening, archaeology, attending archaeological digs and 
he was an accomplished artist. He also had a keen interest in country and highland 
dancing and  taught both. Another interesting and unusual pastime was calligraphy; 
he compiled a book of his work and bound it himself – literally a work of art.

His other main interest was his love of photography and he was often seen snapping 
old landmarks that were in danger of disappearing, a very small selection we have 
here on display. 

A truly remarkable Shottsonian