Born in Kenmare, Scotland, Evan MacColl arrived in Canada already a published poet of Gaelic in 1850. His early books of verse were Mountain Minstrel (1836) and Clarsach Nam Beann (1838). He worked in the Liverpool Custom House and then, owing to health problems, emigrated to Kingston, Ontario (where he is buried). There he worked for the Provincial Customs of Upper Canada but did not gain further advancement owing to politics. At his retirement in 1880 he moved to Toronto. Two editions of his collected works were published in 1883 and 1888 with a brief biography. MacColl was twice married and had nine children.

• Fern, John. "MacColl, Evan." Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online. Volume XII, for 1891-1900. University of Toronto / Laval University, 2000.
• MacColl, Evan. The Mountain Minstrel; or Clàrsach nam Beann: Consisting of Original Poems and Songs in English and Gaelic. Glasgow, 1836.
• --. The English Poetical Works of Evan MacColl. Toronto: Hunter, Rose, 1883. Internet Archive.