Angus Mòr MacAskill (1825–August 8, 1863) was a Canadian giant of Scottish origin, born in the Outer Hebrides and later living in Nova Scotia. Nicknamed “Big Boy,” “Gille Mòr,” “Black Angus,” or “Giant MacAskill,” he measured 7 feet 9 inches (236 cm) and weighed over 500 pounds. He is buried on Cape Breton Island and is mentioned in the Guinness Book of Records from 1981. Angus MacAskill was the greatest “true” giant in history. Because he had usual body dimensions and no growth anomalies such as gigantism.
At 7’9″, Angus is recognized as the world’s tallest natural giant, the strongest man, and the man with the greatest chest measurement of any non-obese person (80 inches) by the Guinness Book of World Records in 1981. His closest contender is a Chinese man Bao Xishun who is 7 feet 8.9 inches.
Angus MacAskill’s Childhood Years
MacAskill was born on Berneray Island, which is part of Scotland’s Sound of Harris channel. Angus was one of twelve children born to Norman MacAskill (who was 5 feet 9 inches tall) and Christina Campbell. It seems that Angus was a typical-sized infant. Until the age of three, he lived in Stornoway before his family emigrated to Nova Scotia, in the region of Baie-Sainte-Anne, an area of hills populated by descendants of Scots and French settlers.
The family moved to Englishtown, Cape Breton Island’s fishing settlement, circa 1831 after spending many years in Stornoway, Outer Hebrides. As a child, his growth was typical. However, during adolescence, he experienced a rapid increase in height. Historian and archivist Phyllis Blakeley reported the following details: “As the boy kept growing and growing, his father raised the roof and lifted the ceilings of the kitchen and living room, but as he did not raise the door Angus had to stoop to enter.”
His Dimensions
While once again a normal-sized youngster, Angus suddenly shot up in height when he entered his teenage years, topping out at 7 feet, 4 inches at age 20 and shortly thereafter at 7 feet 9 inches.
His earliest mature weight was 425 pounds, but he consistently weighed above 500 pounds. In 1863 at the age of 38, he was wearing boots 17.5 inches long; his shoulders were 44 inches broad, and the palm of his hand was 8 inches wide and 12 inches long. His blue eyes were buried deep in his head, and his voice was smooth and pleasant, albeit a little hollow. He had good proportions for a man of his stature.
He had a reputation for being able to lift 635-liter barrels. In Nova Scotia’s Two Remarkable Giants, Blakeley noted that he “jogged down the street with a 300-pound barrel of pork under each arm to the admiring whistles of bystanders.”
His Various Nicknames
- Big Boy (Gille Mòr) was his nickname throughout St. Ann’s, his hometown.
- People also referred to him as the “Cape Breton Giant” or “Giant MacAskill.”
He Lifted 110 Lb with Two Fingers
Around the time he turned 14, Angus MacAskill went with the crew of a fishing schooner from St. Ann’s to North Sydney to attend a dance. MacAskill is described as being friendly and amiable; however, it is reported that during the ball in North Sydney, Angus sat at the edge of the dance floor, barefoot. Several times, a dancer intentionally stepped on his toes, provoking laughter from the audience. Upon the third kick, Angus stood up and punched the boy in the jaw so forcefully that he was propelled off the dance floor. The man remained unconscious for so long that the participants feared he was dead. The schooner’s captain recounts that he later found Angus on the ship, kneeling and praying for the boy’s speedy recovery.
MacAskill was famous for his strength, and stories circulated that he could lift 110 pounds with two fingers and hold it at arms length for ten minutes or pull a ship’s anchor weighing 2800 lb to chest height. Some witnesses also said they saw Angus effortlessly hoist a fully-sized horse over a four-foot barrier. In terms of strength, he was surely comparable to Louis Cyr, the strongest man of the 19th century.
In 1853, He Demonstrated His Strength for Queen Victoria
Despite being primarily a farmer, Angus MacAskill was an avid fisherman, and this giant on his fishing boat was well-known and popular around the town. It was during one of his sea trips that he was spotted by a Yankee schooner whose captain offered his family to become his agent so that Angus could perform in a show. For the next four years, Angus toured Newfoundland, the United States, Cuba and England.
In 1849, he joined P.T. Barnum’s circus as a performer with General Tom Thumb (3’4″). He visited Cuba and the West Indies in 1853. After hearing tales of MacAskill’s prowess, Queen Victoria had him appear before her at Windsor Castle to perform a feat of strength, at which point she proclaimed him “the tallest, stoutest, and strongest man ever enter the palace” and presented him with two gold rings as a token of her gratitude.
The St. Ann’s fishermen were green with envy at MacAskill’s brute might. MacAskill allegedly placed his 1100-pound boat on its beam ends, laid his weight beneath it, and drained the bilge water as the others laboriously bailed their boats. He apparently installed a 40-foot mast into a schooner all by himself.
Picking Up an Anchor 2,200 and 2,700 Lb in Weight
There are conflicting reports of an event involving an anchor in either New York or New Orleans. MacAskill was supposedly challenged by several French sailors to pick up an anchor weighing anywhere between 2,200 and 2,700 pounds that was sitting on the pier. MacAskill did so easily and started walking down the pier with it, but as he did, one of the anchor’s flukes hooked in one of his shoulders and rendered him unable to continue. But lucky for him, this didn’t kill him, for he lived for many years thereafter. His brother disputed the crushing account, insisting that Angus MacAskill walked home that day as straight as an arrow.
This anecdote was mentioned by Cape Breton historian Albert Almon who learned the story from John MacAskill, Angus’ younger brother. Angus takes up the challenge, not only lifting the anchor but also taking a few steps on the pier carrying it on his shoulder. Popular legend has it that he could also insert the mast of a schooner 40 feet high as easily as a peasant drives a pole into a hole.
His Life as a Shopkeeper
In 1853, MacAskill returned to his hometown of Englishtown and bought a gristmill, other real estate assets, and a basic shop, after a successful show business career exhibiting his size and power around Europe and North America. According to legend, whenever a client approached the giant to purchase tea, he would inquire, “will you take a pound or a fistful?” People would ask for a handful of tea since it was so expensive back then, not thinking that MacAskill’s fist could carry more than a pound.
MacAskill’s Sudden Death
Erected
to
the memory of
Angus McAskill
The Nova Scotia Giant
Who died August 8, 1863
Aged 38 years
A dutiful son, a kind brother,
just in all his dealings,
Universally respected by all his
acquaintance, “Mark the perfect man,
and behold the upright,
for the end of that man is peace”.
In the summer of 1863, MacAskill traveled to Halifax, the colonial capital, with the intention of selling vegetables and buying inventory from the city’s wholesalers in preparation for the next winter. He became sick unexpectedly on the voyage and had to be taken back to St. Ann’s, where he was reunited with his family. His parents improvised a care solution by extending his childhood bed and setting it up in the living room.
The physician diagnosed his symptoms as brain fever which is a condition where a part of the brain becomes inflamed (encephalitis) and causes symptoms that present as fever. Ten years after returning to his hometown MacAskill died in his sleep on August 8, 1863, after a week-long sickness. The Rev. Abraham McIntosh, a Presbyterian preacher, was there during his death, as were many of MacAskill’s neighbors.
The Halifax Acadian Recorder (a newspaper in Canada) reported on August 15, 1863, that Angus MacAskill was the tallest human being in Nova Scotia, and probably in British America, and that his kind nature made him popular with all of the people he encountered. During his life, he was most likely the tallest living human in the world between 1825 and 1863.
MacAskill’s burial mound is far larger than that of his normal-sized parents, who were also laid to rest in the Englishtown Cemetery amid countywide mourning.
His Legacy Became a Tourist Attraction
MacAskill’s timber-frame residence on the edge of Kelly’s Mountain near Englishtown, with views of St. Ann’s Harbour, was a constant reminder of his legacy for many years. The huge door frames and foundation of the building were still evident as recently as the 1950s.
After the old burial monument for the family had fallen into disrepair, the Government of Nova Scotia erected a new one for them around the year 1900. Midway through the 20th century, the Gaelic College of Celtic Arts and Crafts showed some of MacAskill’s original personal belongings, including a bed frame, clothing, and a chair, from his home.
Two Different Museums in His Honor
These artifacts were brought back to Englishtown when the Giant MacAskill Heirs Association built the Giant MacAskill Museum on a section of MacAskill’s former land that faced the road in the late 1980s. The museum in Englishtown is home to artifacts saved by local families in addition to those from the Gaelic College.
Similar to the Englishtown museum, the Giant Angus MacAskill Museum was founded in 1989 in Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye and is run by a local community organization.
A Ferry Service
The Angus MacAskill, a new vessel on the Englishtown Ferry that connects Englishtown and Jersey Cove across the 700-foot-wide entrance to St. Ann’s Harbour, was named in 1977. Despite the small distance, it became the biggest ferry service in Nova Scotia, transporting hundreds of thousands of tourists and locals annually until it was replaced by the Torquil MacLean in 2008.
How Tall Was Angus MacAskill Really?
Angus’ actual height is a point of contention. If this above image is actually Angus, as his contemporaries think, then he was not anywhere near the 7’9″ attributed to him and he was close to 6’10”.
The rumors about him, however, are so numerous that you have to assume they are at least somewhat true. Additionally, a photo of Angus as we know him appeared later with a different description on the reverse. A specific Civil War veteran named Captain Meredith Sullivan is mentioned in the description. Despite the widespread conjecture around the identity of the people in this shot, Angus has actually never been linked to the military.
There has been no mention of his fighting in any of the accounts, and no evidence has been shown, such as military loans or enrollment documents, to corroborate the claims. Therefore, the man in the picture above is almost certainly the Belgian giant Jean Bihin instead of Angus MacAskill.
When it comes to the rest of his pictures with other people, it’s hard to put an exact finger on his height. Therefore, we will have to assume that Angus MacAskill was indeed 7 feet 9 inches in height, and he was the tallest documented human being in history without gigantism (a tumor in the pituitary gland that results in extreme stature).