Whisky Galore characters

Appears from the start

The officious commander of the local Home Guard on the Todday islands. An Englishman with a strong belief in regulations and his own authority, he treats the islanders' determination to obtain the wreck's whisky as a test of military discipline.

First appears in chapter 2

The long-established head of the Macroon household and father of Peggy and Catriona. His family is central to the island's two courtships, and he shares his neighbors' view that whisky is part of hospitality and ceremony rather than a mere luxury.

First appears in chapter 2

Joseph Macroon's daughter and the woman Sergeant Odd hopes to marry. Their plans are caught up in the wartime shortage and in the conventions surrounding family approval and celebration.

First appears in chapter 2

An English soldier stationed on Todday who is in love with Peggy Macroon. Unlike Waggett, he grows sympathetic to the islanders and is pulled between official obligations and loyalty to the family he hopes to join.

First appears in chapter 3

Peggy's sister and George Campbell's intended bride. She understands that George's affection is genuine even though his fear of his mother keeps delaying a decisive break toward marriage.

First appears in chapter 3

A mild young islander who loves Catriona Macroon but remains under the control of his formidable, abstinent mother. The arrival of the salvaged whisky gives him unexpected confidence.

First appears in chapter 3

George Campbell's domineering mother, a determined opponent of drink who expects her son to obey her. She is the principal obstacle to his marriage with Catriona.

First appears in chapter 4

Waggett's wife, who has a more practical sense of island life and of her husband's limitations than he does. Her domestic view undercuts the grandeur he attaches to his campaign.