In childhood, she was evacuated with her mother and younger brother Iain to Achiltibuie in the Scottish Highlands, for safety during World War II.
[2] Iseabail Macleod taught languages in schools in Austria and Scotland as a young woman, but soon moved into editorial work.
[2][3] In that role, she oversaw the technological transitions that brought the Scots School Dictionary onto CD-ROM, for classroom use.
"There are many things which you can say in Scots which are much more difficult to express in English," she explained of the dictionary's value for young learners.
[4] In the 2001 New Year Honours, she was named a member of the Order of the British Empire for her work on Scots dictionaries.