Interesting thread. My grandmother, Margaret Milne, was the daughter of George Milne, son of John Milne and Ann MacDonald. Ann died at Tynett, Enzie, on 19th June 1883, and was the daughter of Alexander MacDonald and Elspeth Robb.
In Ann MacDonald/Milne's death certificate, her father, Alexander's occupation is given as "Pensioner Retired Solider." He was discharged from service in Bombay in 1819, having enlisted first in 1795, in the 72nd Regiment (Seaforth) and then transferred to the 47th Regiment in 1798 with whom he served in the East and West Indies until his discharge on the grounds of being "worn out" due to his service. His discharge papers state that he was born in the parish of St. Andrews "in or near to the town of Inverness" and was then 21 years of age. He died prior to 1841, as his widow, Elspeth is listed in the census for that year at Moss of Longhill under her maiden name of Robb. She appears in the 1851 census as MacDonald and then in the 1861 one, again under Robb. She died at Longhill on 9th July 1865, aged 90 years. His death certificate gives her parents as John Robb, a farmer, and Margaret Kynoch.
Although Alexander MacDonald is said in some accounts to have been a younger son of Alexander Macdonald of Drimindaroch (The Red Doctor), I have not been able to corroborate that and consider it extremely doubtful.
A side note on the Milnes, my gran's father, George Milne, told his daughter of why he left the family home which was that on the death of his father, John, he overheard his brothers and sisters conspiring to take his share of the croft. He decided to leave and walked to Glasgow where he enlisted in the city Police although he last only a matter of weeks, on account of despising the city and the way of life there.
I hope this is of some use.
Gordon MacGregor
www.redbookofscotland.net