Author, poet, naturalist and chartist. Born in Bridgeton (Glasgow), MacDonald was the eldest of eleven children. He began work as an apprentice block engraver at the Barrowfield calico-printing works. His early experiences brought him into sympathy with the Chartist movement. He wrote articles on social and political issues and was appointed to the Glasgow Citizen newspaper, rising to become a Sub-Editor. He is perhaps best remembered for his Rambles Round Glasgow, first published 1854. These described walks taken by himself and his friends around Glasgow and were replete with observations of the countryside and the natural world. Some of these walks are now way-marked in Gleniffer Braes Country Park.
MacDonald lies buried in the Southern Necropolis and is commemorated by a fountain in Glasgow Green known as the Bonnie Wee Well, which was originally erected on Gleniffer Braes, where another memorial now stands. MacDonald had described Glasgow Green in his Rambles as a "spacious and beautiful public park, with wide-spreading lawns, picturesque groups of trees, far-winding walks, numerous delicious springs, and, above all, a rich command of scenery."