James Macdonald (1741-1766), 8th Baronet of Sleat, was the son of Sir Alexander Macdonald (1711-1746) and Lady Margaret Macdonald. He succeeded to the baronetcy in 1746, at the age of five. He was a prodigy at Eton and Oxford and known as “the Scottish Marcellus” for his learning and intelligence; he was much admired by James Boswell. He suffered from ill-health and went to Italy in an attempt to convalesce, but died in Rome at the age of twenty-five. His mother erected a monument to his memory in the parish church of Sleat.