John D. Mackay was a Scottish schoolteacher. He taught on Stronsay

Stronsay

Stronsay is an island in Orkney, off the north coast of Scotland. The main village is Whitehall, home to a heritage centre. It is in size, and at its highest point....

 and North Ronaldsay

North Ronaldsay

North Ronaldsay is the northernmost of the Orkney Islands, Scotland and with an area of is the fourteenth largest.-Geography:North Ronaldsay lies around north of its nearest neighbour, Sanday at . The island is around long along its length and is defined by two large sandy bays; Linklet Bay on...

 before working as headmaster of Sanday

Sanday, Orkney

Sanday is one of the inhabited islands in the Orkney Islands, off the north coast of Scotland. With an area of , it is the third largest of the Orkney Islands. The main centres of population are Lady Village and Kettletoft. Sanday can be reached by Orkney Ferries or plane from Kirkwall on the...

 School between 1946 to 1970.

He is remembered locally for writing to The Times

The Times

The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...

in 1967 suggesting that Orkney and Shetland be returned to Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 after five centuries as part of Scotland. His letter brought publicity to Orkney and boosted some residents' morale, at a time when absorption into the administrative structure of the Scottish Highlands

Scottish Highlands

The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...

 seemed destined to cause a reduction in the powers of the local authorities. http://www.sanday.co.uk/nowthen/cel.htm A stream of local publicity efforts

Propaganda

Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....

followed.