Inner Hebrides
The poet Sorley MacLean was born on Raasay, the setting for his best known poem, "Hallaig". George Orwell wrote much of the novel "1984" whilst living at Barnhill on Jura and J.M. Barrie wrote a screenplay for the 1924 film adaptation of "Peter Pan" whilst on Eilean Shona. Cressida Cowell, the author of "How to Train Your Dragon", spent childhood summers in the Inner Hebrides and has stated that they are "one of the most beautiful places on Earth" and "the kind of place where you expect to see dragons overhead".
Ernie McLea
McLea was born in Montreal, Quebec. He was the fifth and final child of John Brine McLea and Phoebe Elizabeth (Currie) McLea, who were both born in Newfoundland and moved to Quebec in the 1860s, then to Montreal in the 1870s. As a youth, McLea attended the Bishop's College School boarding school in Lennoxville, where he met future Victorias team-mates Hartland MacDougall and Robert MacDougall (not related). He followed this with studies at McGill University where he played rugby football and cricket.