Sir Iain Noble, 3rd Baronet

Sir Iain Andrew Noble, 3rd Baronet is a landowner in the Isle of Skye and a noted Scottish Gaelic language activist.

Noble was born in Berlin in 1935 as son of a British diplomat, and received his primary education in Argentina, before attending Eton and Oxford University. He comes from a family of bankers and began his career by establishing a merchant bank in Scotland. When he was bought out, he used the proceeds to buy the MacDonald Estate in Skye. He has since developed many business interests on Skye, and is a director of a company Praban na Linne which produces a whisky called Tè Bheag nan Eilean (literally "small one of the islands").

Although not a native Gaelic speaker Noble became an enthusiastic learner of the language and used his position as landowner to support the language, introducing an employment policy of positive discrimination in favour of Gaelic speakers. He was directly responsible for the erection of the first Gaelic road signs in Scotland, and the holder of the first ever Gaelic cheque book, issued for him by the Bank of Scotland; both of these were innovatons which have had a very significant impact.

Noble had a seminal involvement in the setting up of the Gaelic medium college Sabhal Mòr Ostaig which is located in Sleat, Skye. The original "Big Barn" (the "Talla Mhòr") was part of the MacDonald estate.

ource

Roger Hutchinson, "A Waxing Moon: The Modern Gaelic Revival", Mainstream Publishing, Edinburgh, 2005. ISBN 1-84018-794-8.