Outlaw, fiddler, & folk hero James Macpherson (c.1675–1700) was hanged #OTD, 16 November, for being Romani. Prior to his execution Macpherson composed his famous “Rant”. Macpherson sang this lament on the gallows & smashed his fiddle before meeting his fate
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“Forasmeikle as you James Macpherson, pannal, are found guilty by ane verdict of ane assyse, to be knoun, holden, and repute to be Egiptian and a wagabond…”
The 1609 “Act against the Egyptians” made it lawful to execute people for being, or even just suspected of being, ethnically Romani
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#Scottish #literature #history #18thcentury #earlymodern #Romani #poem #poetry #song #folksong #racism
He has attained folk hero status as a sort of Scottish Robin Hood and at Burns Suppers around the country this weekend his execution will be recalled with performances of ‘Macpherson’s Farewell’ also known as Macpherson’s ‘Rant’ or ‘Lament’. But who wa
Mac/McPherson’s Rant/Lament/Farewell etc. persisted as a folk song in various forms. Robert Burns produced a version “written for this work” for the SCOTS MUSICAL MUSEUM vol.2 (1788). It diverges from the traditional lyrics but keeps the same tune.
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https://digital.nls.uk/special-collections-of-printed-music/archive/87796835
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The Scots Language Centre website has a version of the traditional lyrics – along with an audio recording of “MacPherson's Rant” performed by Ewan McVicar, vocal & guitar, with Colin Campbell on the fiddle.
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https://www.scotslanguage.com/articles/node/id/449/type/referance
#Scottish #literature #history #18thcentury #earlymodern #Romani #poem #poetry #song #folksong #fiddle
A song about an injustice.The story of the song is largely true.James MacPherson was an outlaw in the North East of Scotland, one of the travelling people and the leader of a band of robbers. He was said to have been generous to and popular with the poor people, but he was the enemy of Lord Duff, …
Another version of “Macpherson’s Rant”, performed by The Corries for BBC Scotland
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_euUOCcLuw&list=RDb_euUOCcLuw&start_radio=1
#Scottish #literature #history #18thcentury #earlymodern #Romani #poem #poetry #song #folksong #fiddle
Jamie Macpherson’s Fiddle: Decolonisation, and Representing Gypsy/Traveller Communities in the Clan Macpherson Museum
—Rhona Ramsay & Jim MacPherson, NORTHERN SCOTLAND 15/2, 2024 – available free from Edinburgh University Press on Open Access
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https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/10.3366/nor.2024.0317
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The broken remains of James Macpherson’s fiddle are held in the Clan Macpherson Museum, Newtonmore. They also have the original Banff town clock, reputedly set forward by 45 minutes to ensure that Macpherson was executed before an expected reprieve could arrive.
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https://www.clanmacphersonmuseum.org.uk
#Scottish #literature #history #18thcentury #earlymodern #Romani #poem #poetry #song #folksong #fiddle
Assoc for Scottish Literature