> Folk Music > Songs > MacPherson’s Farewell/Lament/Rant

MacPherson’s Farewell/Lament/Rant

[ Roud 2160 ; G/D 3:697 ; Ballad Index Ord444 , K348 ; Bodleian Roud 2160 ; MacPherson’s Rant at Muckle Sangs ; Folkinfo 272 ; DT MACPHER , MACPHER2 ; Mudcat 27441 ; trad.]

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James MacPherson was a robber and fiddle player in North-East Scotland. He was captured at Keith market and was hanged ot the Cross og Banff on 16 November 1700.

The Traditional Ballad Index distinguishes between two versions of this song. The older one, Ballad Index Ord444, may have been written by MacPherson himself. It is usually called MacPherson’s Rant and contains the lines “I’ve spent my time in rioting, Debauch’d my health and strength…”. It was printed in John Ord’s Bothy Songs and Ballads, p.444-445. I do not have any recording of this version. In 1788 Robert Burns rewrote and published a version with the title MacPherson’s Farewell (Ballad Index K348) in Volume II, p.117-118 of James Johnson’s The Scots Musical Museum; it was also printed in Ord, p.443. All recordings I know seem to have been derived from this version.

James Scott Skinner played MacPherson’s Rant in a January 1910 recording (matrix 26747; Rena Double Face 1285) that was included in 1975, together with a 1974 recording by Bill Hardie, on the Topic album The Music of Scott Skinner. It was also included in 2002 on the Temple CD resissue of Scott Skinner’s 1975 Topic album, The Strathspey King. An early 1950s recording of James Fowlie Dickie playing MacPherson’s Rant was released in 1976 on his Topic album of Scottish fiddling in the style of Scott Skinner, James F. Dickie’s Delights.

John Strachan of Fyvie, Aberdeenshire, sang MacPherson’s Rant on 16 July 1951 to Alan Lomax and Hamish Henderson. This recording was included in 2002 on his Rounder anthology CD, Songs From Aberdeenshire. Hamish Henderson and Ewan McVicar noted:

A piece of the story of James MacPherson, the famous Northeast outlaw and fiddler hanged in Banff in the year 1700. The ballad was more fully recorded by Alan Lomax from Davie Stewart and Jimmy McBeath. Both John and Jimmy reverse the customary order of the two-strain tune.

Jimmy McBeath sang MacPherson’s Lament to Alan Lomax and Hamish Henderson in Turiff, Scotland, on 17 July 1951. Three verses and the chorus were included in ca. 1955 on the Columbia anthology The Columbia World Library of Folk and Primitive Music - Volume VI: Scotland, and the whole song with seven verses was included in 2002 on McBeath’s Rounder anthology Tramps and Hawkers which has the comment:

A fairly confused version of the great ballad of James MacPherson, the Robin Hood-type freebooter and fiddler of the Northeast, said to have been framed and executed in Banff in 1700. Jimmy intermingles stanzas from the traditional story and from Robert Burns’ poetical rewrite, reversing the usual order of the two-strain tune, and using for the chorus what is usually sung for the verses.

Jimmy McBeath also sang MacPherson’s Rant in a 1967 recording made by Sean Davies at Cecil Sharp House that was released in 1967 on his Topic album Wild Rover No More. Peter Hall noted:

Thomas Carlyle found this “a wild stormful song, that dwells in ear and mind with strange tenacity” and the folk seem to have shared his opinion, if its popularity is anything to go by. Tradition has it that James MacPherson, son of a Highland gentleman and a gypsy woman who attracted his attention while in his cups, was arrested for bearing arms at Keith market and although others equally guilty were pardoned he was convicted for being “by repute an Egyptian and Vagabond and oppressor of His Majesty’s Free Lieges, in a bangstrie manner, and going up and down the country around and keeping markets in a hostile manner”.

Great haste was shown in carrying out the sentence and MacPherson was executed on 16 November 1700, a mere 8 days after sentence was passed. He is reputed to have composed the tune of the song and played it on the fiddle before mounting the scaffold. Similar legends are attached to hanged musicians in many parts of Europe. Robert Burns composed new words modelled on the old ballad and Jimmy uses two of these verses to end his performance.

Davie Stewart sang MacPherson’s Rant to Hamish Henderson in Dundee in 1954. This recording was released in 1978 on his eponymous Topic album Davie Stewart and was included in 1998 on the Topic anthology of local events and national issues, A Story I’m Just About to Tell (The Voice of the People Volume 8). Another 1954 recording of Davie Stewart by Hamish Henderson was released in c.1962 on the Prestige International album Folksongs & Music From the Berryfields of Blair. Hamish Henderson noted on the first album:

James MacPherson, most famous of Scottish outlaws, was the illegitimate son of a Highland laird, MacPherson of Invereshie, and a beautiful tinkler-gypsy girl he met at a wedding. Jamie was brought up in his father’s house, and it is related that “he grew up to beauty, strength and stature rarely equalled.” He became an expert swordsman, and a renowned fiddler. After the death of his father—Invereshie was killed while attempting to recover cattle stolen by reivers—Jamie was reclaimed by his mother’s people, and eventually became the leader of the band. They lived, as their descendants still do, by buying and selling the means of transport (horses then, secondhand cars now), and seem to have been quite popular with the ordinary country folk. However, MacPherson incurred the enmity of the rich lairds and farmers of the low country of Banff and Aberdeenshire, and especially of a brash go-getter Duff of Braco who organised a posse to catch him. At Saint Rufus Fair in Keith he was attacked by Braco’s men, and was captured after a fierce fight. (According to the traditional account, a woman dropped a blanket over him from a window, and he was disarmed before he could get free of it.

It was still at that time a criminal offence merely to be an Egyptian (Gypsy) in Scotland, and it was under this statute that MacPherson was tried in November 1700. 1700. A procès-verbal of his trial is still extant; the following is the text of the death sentence:

Forasmeikle, as you James McPherson, pannal (accused) are found guilty by ane verdict of ane assyse, to be knoun, holden, and repute to be Egiptian and a wagabond, and oppressor of his Magesties free lieges in ane bangstrie manner, and going up and down the country armed, and keeping mercats in ane hostile manner, and that you are a thief, and that you are of pessimae famae. Therfor, the Sheriff-depute of Banff, and I in his name, adjudges and discernes you the said James McPherson to be taken to the Cross of Banff, from the tolbooth thereof, where you now lye, and there upon ane gibbet to be erected, to be hanged by the neck to the death by the hand of the common executioner, upon Friday next, being the 16th of November instant, being a public weekly mercat day, betwixt the hours of two and three in the afternoon…

While under sentence of death MacPherson is said to have composed the tune of the Rant, and he is also said to have played it under the gallows, and then to have broken it either across his knee or over the executioner’s head. It is universally believed in the North-East that a reprieve was on its way to Banff at the time of the execution, and that the town clock was put forward a quarter of an hour so that MacPherson could be hanged before the reprieve arrived. The Laird of Grant is mentioned in the song because he attempted to secure the release of two men captured with MacPherson, by claiming that they were subject to his hereditary feudal jurisdiction. He is referred to as “that Highland sant” (i.e., saint) because unlike the MacPhersons he was a staunch Protestant and a militant partisan of King William, whose cause he had supported with three hundred men at the Battle of the Haughs of Crondale (1690).

MacPherson’s Rant has naturally been a permanent favourite with the travelling people, and Davie always sang it with tremendous pride and panache. (He almost seemed to dance as well as sing the chorus.) His text, like Jimmy McBeath’s, is a descendant of a broadside execution ballad about MacPherson which was probably on sale either at or soon after the execution. It has been held to be appreciably superior, as poetry, to Robert Burns’s celebrated braggadocio re-write. Again, the popular voice attributes the original broadside text to MacPherson himself.

Davie’s approach to the Rant was always highly fluid and improvisatory. He had a stock of verses which he would sing in any order that suited him, and they seldom came out the same way twice; sometimes he would think up new verses on the spur of the moment—as, in this case, the verse about the “English law”.

Those wishing to compare separate recordings of the song by Davie can do so by referring to the LP The Berryfields of Blair (Prestige-International INT 25016). Other recordings may be consulted in the sound archive of The School of Scottish Studies.

The tune continues to intrigue Scottish musicians. The first performance of two pieces—by Lyell Cresswell and Martin Dalby—both entitled MacPherson’s Rant was given at The Third Eye Centre, Glasgow, by The New Music Group of Scotland (21 October 1977).

Davie Stewart sang MacPherson’s Lament to Peter Kennedy in Dundee in 1956. This recording was included in 1994 on the Saydisc CD Songs of the Travelling People. Peter Kennedy noted:

MacPherson was a celebrated freebooter who was captured at Keith Market and hanged at Banff Cross in 1700. He is supposed to have played his last tune and then broken his fiddle in pieces. The song has remained popular perhaps because Robert Burns re-modelled it from a broadside copy. The tune was a favourite of the Aberdeenshire fiddler, John Scott-Skinner.

Davie Stewart sang MacPherson’s Rant to Alan Lomax in his Lonson apartment in 1957. This recording was released on the 1961 Tradition album of folk songs and folk music from Aberdeenshire and the Hebrides, Heather and Glen, and was included in 2002 on Davie Stewart’s Rounder anthology Go On, Sing Another Song.

Ewan MacColl sang MacPherson’s Lament in 1956 on his Riverside album Scots Street Songs. He noted:

Details concerning the hero of this old rant have been coloured by time, and the folk imagination has given him a notoriety far beyond that deserved by the free-booting activities for which he was hung on 16 November 1700. Report has it that when brought to the gallows he asked to he allowed to play his fiddle for the last time. He then proceeded to play the stirring tune he had composed for the words of this song. He offered the violin to any member of his clan who would play the tune over his body at his lykewake. No one answering, he is said to have dashed the instrument to pieces over the executioner’s head, and to have flung himself from the ladder, thereby hanging himself. Robert Burns wrote a fine version of the ballad, but on the North-Eastern coast it has never superseded the original. I have this stirring version from Jimmy McBeath.

Jeannie Robertson sang McPherson’s Farewell on her 1959 Collector EP I Ken Where I’m Going. This version is also printed in James Porter and Herschel Gower’s book Jeannie Robertson: Emergent Singer, Transformative Voice. Norman Buchan noted on the EP:

This is a version of one of the great outlaw ballads of Scotland. The hero, James McPherson, was reputed to be the illegitimate son of a member of the great family of Inverseie and a gipsy woman. When his father died he joined his mother’s people and commenced his career of banditry. He was captured at Keith Market and executed at the Cross of Banff in 1700. McPherson was a famous fiddler, and was said to have composed and played this Rant at his gallows and then offered his fiddle to anyone in the crowd who would say a word in praise of him. No one having the courage to speak, he broke his fiddle and threw it into the open grave before mounting the scaffold.

The Galliards sang MacPherson’s Rant in 1960 on their eponymous Decca/Beltona EP The Galliards. This track was also included in 2002 on the Topic anthology The Acoustic Folk Box.

The Clancy Brothers with Tommy Makem sang McPherson’s Lament in 1963 on their CBS album The Boys Won’t Leave the Girls Alone. The Clancy Brothers with Louis Killen sang MacPherson’s Lament in 1973 on their Vanguard album Greatest Hits.

Jock Higgins sang MacPherson’s Farewell to Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger in 1963. They printed this version in their 1977 book Travellers’ Songs From England and Scotland, and they noted:

Tradition has it that James MacPherson was the son of a Highland gentleman and a “beautiful gypsy woman”. During his lifetime, he achieved considerable notoriety as the leader of a gang of cattle-lifters operating in the province of Moray. On 7 November 1700, MacPherson, two men named Brown and a Gordon, were brought before the Sheriff of Banffshire, charged with being “Egyptian rogues and vagabonds, of keeping the markets in their ordinary manner of thieving and purse-cutting, also being guilty of masterful bangstrie [violence against a person or property] and oppression”. Part of the evidence against them was that “they spoke a peculiar gypsy language and spent their nights in dancing, singing and debauchery”.

MacPherson and Gordon were found guilty and sentenced to be hanged at the Market Cross next market day. It is said that MacPherson spent his last hours composing his famous rant, the song which inspired Burns’s Farewell, Ye Dungeons Dark and Strong. There is a persistent legend that the Banff authorities, anticipating a royal pardon for MacPherson, hanged him before the appointed time.

Hamish Imlach sang MacPherson’s Rant in 1964 on the Decca album Edinburgh Folk Festival Vol. 2. Eric Wirter noted:

The legendary hero of this song is said to have broken his fiddle at the foot of the gallows, rather than let anyone else play it. The authorities, hell-bent on the execution and knowing that a reprieve was on the way, put forward the clock so they could hang MacPherson. Hamish Imlach is the singer.

Nigel Denver sang MacPherson’s Lament in 1965 on his Decca album Moving On. He noted:

MacPherson’s reprieve from the gallows was on its way to Banff so they put the clock a quarter of an hour fast and hanged him before it arrived.

Maggie McPhee sang MacPherson’s Lament to Bill Leader in 1967. This recording was released in the following year on the Topic album of Traveller families, The Travelling Stewarts. Carl MacDougall noted:

There are, of course, many versions of this song and many accounts of MacPherson, but in the circumstances, Robert Ford’s note is very revealing: “This rare old rant … is said to have been written by the notorious freebooter … while he lay under sentence of death in the fall of the year 1700. After holding the counties of Aberdeen, Banff, and Moray in fear for a number of years, MacPherson was seized by Duff of Braco, ancestor of the Earl of Fife, and along with certain gypsies who had been taken in his company, was tried before the Sheriff of Banffshire, and convicted of being “repute an Egyptian and vagabond, and oppressor of His Majesty’s free lieges, in bangstrie manner.” When brought to the place of execution, on the Gallows Hill of Banff, on 16 November, in the year named, he played on his violin, says report, the stirring tune he had composed for these words in the condemned cell, and then asked if any friend “was present who would accept the instrument as a gift at his hands. No one coming forward, he indignantly broke the violin on his knee and threw away the fragments, after which he submitted to his fate.

The Union Folk sang MacPherson’s Lament on their 1969 Traditional Sound album A Basketful of Oysters. They noted:

The nostalgia of time has given the hero of this song a reputation far beyond that deserved by the free-booting activities for which he was hanged on 16 November 1700,

Standing on the gallow steps, MacPherson played the lament on which this song is based for the lost time and then offered his fiddle to any member of his clan who could play the lament over hit dead body. When no man took up his offer he smashed the instrument over the executioner’s head and leapt from the gallows and hanged himself—an impetuous act since “his reprieve was coming o’er the brig o’ the Banff”.

Vulcan’s Hammer sang MacPherson’s Rant on their 1975 album The Two Magicians.

Danny Spooner sang MacPherson’s Rant on his 1978 album Danny Spooner and Friends. He noted:

James MacPherson was the illegitimate son of a laird and a gypsy girl. He joined his mother’s people and became a freebooter plundering rich farms. He was hung in the village of Banff in 1700 after being cornered at a fair by a posse led by Duff of Braco. It is believed that he composed the Rant while awaiting his execution. The words of the song are dead accurate, and the broken fiddle said to have belonged to MacPherson is on display at the MacPherson Museum at Newtonmore, Inverness.

Dick Gaughan sang MacPherson’s Rant in a ‘nostalgia’ session at Waverley Bar, Edinburgh in March 1981. This recording was included in 2025 on his box set R/evolution 1969-1984.

Charlie Allan sang MacPherson’s Farewell on his 1988 cassette of bothy ballads, The Auld Folks on the Wa’.

Old Blind Dogs sang MacPherson’s Rant on their 1993 album Close to the Bone. Ian Benzie noted:

Being for the benefit of Mr George Hardie, D.A., House of News, Strathdon, Aberdeenshire, who cajoled me with a dram or two, to sing this song, and then sent his “loon” Jonny, to compound the request with threads of playing nothing but Irish tunes on this recording.

The MacPherson referred to in this song was one James MacPherson, hanged at Banff in the year 1700. The story is true and well documented.

Battlefield Band sang MacPherson’s Lament on their 1995 Temple album Threads. They noted:

The tune of this song is said to have been composed by James MacPherson, the night before his execution on November 1700. Born of an aristocratic father and beautiful gypsy mother, MacPherson was an outlaw of the Robin Hood mould taking only from the rich and acting as the champion of the poor. It is said that he played the tune on his gallows and when none of his clan took up his offer on the fiddle if they would play it at his wake, he broke it and jumped to his death.

Tradition has it that the authorities in Banff, where he was hanged, were fearful that a reprieve was on its way and put the town clock on by 20 minutes so MacPherson was executed before the time specified. To this day jokes are still made about the right time in Banff. Again Alan [Reid] suggests this as another great movie story. The words, by the way, were by Robert Burns. Alison Kinnaird plays cello with us on this song.

Hector Gilchrist and Liz Thomson sang MacPherson’s Lament in 1996 on their WildGoose album of songs of Robert Burns, The Lea Rig. They noted:

Burns based his song on the original, said to have been composed by James MacPherson, a freebooter of legendary strength and some musical talent, who was captured by Duff of Braco and sentenced to hang at Banff in 1700. The much recorded, more modern version, describes his last action in breaking his fiddle, the alleged remains of which are on display in the MacPherson Museum Newtonmore.

Bedlam with Bryony Griffith on fiddle played MacPherson’s Lament in 1997 on their Selwyn album Four Play. They noted:

This is the ‘nice’ tune (without [percussionist] Ross [McKinlay]!) and was composed by a chap called MacPherson on the eve of his execution in 1700. It is taken from The Scottish Violinist by J. Scott Skinner.

Lucy Dale sang MacPherson’s Rant in 1997 on Scottish fiddler Paul Anderson’s album The Journey Home. Paul Anderson also played it on his 2019 album Beauties of the North. He noted:

James MacPherson was executed on 16 November 1700 at the Mercat Cross in Banff and was said to have composed this piece the night previous. A folk hero to poor and a villain to the landed gentry, I’ve always thought his life would make a great subject for a novel. He’s reputed to have played this tune on the gallows before offering his fiddle to the crowd. When no-one would accept it for fear of being implicated as a comrade he defiantly smashed the fiddle across his knee before jumping to his eternal rest. The pieces of the fiddle can be seen in the Clan MacPherson Museum in Newtonmore.

Jock Duncan sang MacPherson’s Rant in 2001 on his Sleepytown CD Tae the Green Woods Gaen. Ronnie Cairns noted:

The story on which this song is based is very well known. But before he was hanged, did James MacPherson ‘brak his fiddle’ or not? Some argue that he did and others that he did not.

The Clan MacPherson Museum at Newtonmore, a fine little village in the Scottish Highlands, claims to have his fiddle on display. But is it broken or intact, well that’s for you to find out isn’t it?

Ewan McVicar sang MacPherson’s Rant 2001 on the CD accompanying Katherine Campbell’s and his book Traditional Scottish Songs & Music.

Billy Ross sang MacPherson’s Farewell in 2002 on the Linn anthology The Complete Songs of Robert Burns Volume 10.

Ed Miller sang MacPherson’s Farewell on his 2009 CD of songs written or collected by Robert Burns, Lyrics of Gold. He noted:

Played slowly, this is sometimes called MacPherson’s Lament, sung more lustily, MacPherson’s Rant. Either way, it concerns the hanging of James MacPherson, a Highland cattle thief, in Banff in 1700. Cattle-reiving was for long a staple activity of Highland clansmen; but such exploits clashed with the more mercantile culture of Lowland farmers in Morayshire and he was captured and charged with a variety of offences, including “masterful bangstrie and oppression” (extortion & bodily harm).

There is a large body of folklore about this Robin Hood-like character, including the belief that he was part Gypsy or Traveller. It is almost certain that he was indeed a fiddler and that he did compose and play a tune just before his execution—pieces of his smashed fiddle can still be seen in the MacPherson Museum in Newtonmore. Such a story made perfect material for broadside ballad writers of the day, and Burns probably heard a version during his Highland travels, before greatly altering it from a moral wanting against theft to the story of a rebellious hero.

Ian Bruce sang MacPherson’s Farewell in 2010 on his Lochshore album Rhythm & Burns.

Ray Cooper sang MacPherson’s Rant in 2010 on his Westpark album Tales of Love War & Death by Hanging.

Danny Couper and Carol Anderson sang MacPherson’s Fareweel at the Fife Traditional Singing Festival, Collessie, Fife in May 2010. This recording was released in the following year on the festival’s anthology Hurrah Boys Hurrah! (Old Songs & Bothy Ballads Volume 7). Peter Shepheard noted:

The ballad of MacPherson’s Rant, Lament or Farewell was made famous in the 1960s folk revival from the singing of two of Scotland’s great source singers—Jimmy McBeath (1894-1971) and Auld Davie Stewart (1901-1972). The original text was said to have been composed and written by MacPherson himself and was printed soon after the execution that took place on 7 November 1700. In 1788 Robert Burns published a version as MacPherson’s Farewell in Volume II of the Scots Musical Museum. Danny’s version pays tribute particularly to Auld Davie—it has all the poise and style of the great traveller singer. Davie usually accompanied himself on the accordion and could be heard from the 1930s to the 1960s singing at country fairs and feeing markets and latterly in the back courts of Glasgow, the Overgate in Dundee or the Castlegate in Aberdeen. Jimmy McBeath and Auld Davie both appeared regularly at the Aberdeen Folk Club and as guests at the St Andrews folk club. Auld Davie was on several occasions paid to busk the queue at the opening sale of the St Andrew’s Woollen Mill in the late 1960s and in 1972 he died shortly after a last appearance at the St Andrews Folk Club.

James MacPherson’s long career of robbery culminated in a reign of terror in the markets of Banff, Elgin and Forres. Apparantly under the protection of the laird of Grant, he and his band of followers would come marching in with a piper at their head. MacPherson and his band were convicted of being Egyptian rogues and vagabonds, of keeping the markets in their ordinary manner of thieving and purse-cutting, also being guilty of masterful bangstrie and oppression. It was also said that they spoke a strange language and spent their nights in singing, dancing, and debauchery. The song relates the tradition that a reprieve was coming from the south but, that as the rider could be seen approaching the bridge across the river from MacDuff to Banff, the town clock and thus the hour of execution was put forward and MacPherson was hanged. An instrument that purports to be his has been preserved at the Clan MacPherson Museum, Newtonmore, Inverness-shire.

Jim Malcolm sang MacPherson’s Rant on his 2013 album Still. He noted:

I have always enjoyed singing this swash-buckling song about the charismatic North East outlaw James MacPherson.

Findlay Napier sang MacPherson’s Rant in 2014 on his and Chris Sherburn’s Cherry Groove album Two Men on a Boat.

Band of Burns with Alastair Caplin in lead sang MacPherson’s Farewell on their 2021 live album The Sweetest Hours. This video shows them at Celtic Connections in January 2020:

Adam Holmes sang MacPherson’s Rant on his 2024 album The Voice of Scotland.

Lyrics

MacPherson’s Rant

Source: John Ord: Bothy Songs and Ballads, p.444-445

I’ve spent my time in rioting,
Debauch’d my health and strength,
I’ve pillag’d, plunder’d, murdered,
But now, alas! at length
I’m brought to punishment direct,
Pale death draws near to me;
This end I never did project,
To hang upon a tree.

To hang upon a tree! a tree!
That cursed, unhappy death!
Like to a wolf to worried be
And choaked in the breath.
My very heart would surely break,
When this I think upon,
Did not my courage singular
Bid pensive thoughts begone?

No man on earth that draweth breath
More courage had than I;
I dar’d my foes unto their face,
And would not from them fly;
This grandeur stout, I did keep out,
Like Hector manfullie,
Then wonder one like me so stout
Should hang upon a tree.

Th’ Egyptian band I did command
With courage more by far
Than ever did a general
His soldiers in the war.
Being fear’d by all, both great and small,
I liv’d most joyfullie;
O, curse upon this fate of mine,
To hang upon a tree!

As for my life, I do not care,
If justice would take place,
And bring my fellow plunderers
Unto this same disgrace.
For Peter Brown, that notour loon,
Escaped and was made free;
O, curse upon this fate of mine
To hang upon a tree!

Both law and justice buried are,
And fraud and guile succeed,
The guilty pass unpunished,
If money intercede.
The Laird of Grant, that Highland saunt,
His mighty majesty,
He pleads the cause of Peter Brown
And lets Macpherson dee.

The dest’ny of my life contriv’d
By those whom I oblig’d,
Rewarded me much ill for good
And left me no refuge.
For Braco Duff, in rage enough,
He first laid hands on me;
And, if that death would not prevent,
Avenged wou’d I be.

As for my life it is but short,
When I shall be no more;
To part with life I am content,
As any heretofore.
Therefore, good people all, take heed,
This warning take by me,
According to the lives you lead
Rewarded you shall be.

MacPherson’s Farewell

Source: James Johnson: The Scots Musical Museum, Volume II, p.117-118, and John Ord: Bothy Songs and Ballads, p.443

Farewell, ye dungeons dark and strong,
The wretch’s destinie!
MacPherson’s time will no be long,
On yonder gallows tree.

Chorus:
Sae rantingly, sae wantonly,
Sae dauntingly gae’d he.
He play’d a spring, and danc’d it round
Below the gallows tree.

O, what is death but parting breath?
On many a bloody plain
I’ve dar’d his face, and in this place
I scorn him yet again!

Untie these bands from off my hands.
And bring to me my sword;
And there’s no a man in all Scotland,
But I’ll brave him at a word.

I’ve liv’d a life of sturt and strife;
I die by treacherie:
It burns my heart I must depart,
And not avenged be.

Now farewell, light, thou sunshine bright,
And all beneath the sky!
May coward shame distain his name,
The wretch that dares not die!

John Strachan sings MacPherson’s Rant

[spoken:] Fit’s the verse that I sang to you?

Some come here to see me hanged.
And some to buy my fiddle,
But before that I would pairt wi her,
I would brak her through the middle.

Chorus (after each verse):
Sae rantinly and sae wantonly
And sae dauntlessly gaed he.
For he played a tune and he danced it roon
Below the gallows tree.

Release my hands from out my bonds
And gie tae me my sword.
And there’s nae a man in aa Scotland
But I’ll daur him at a word.

For some come here to see me hanged,
And some to buy my fiddle,
But before that I would pairt wi her
I would brak her through the middle.

Jimmy McBeath sings MacPherson’s Lament (1951)

Farewell, ye dungeons dark and strong,
MacPherson’s time will no be long.
Below thon gallows tree I’ll hing.

Chorus:
Sae rantinly, sae dauntinly,
And sae wantonly went he,
He played a tune and he danced aroon
Below the gallows tree.

The Laird o Grant, the Highland sant
That first laid hands on me,
He played the cause on Peter Broon
Tae let MacPherson dee.

An bring off the bands from off my hands
Andgae bring tae me my sword.
For there’s no a man in all Scotland
But ah’ll brave him at his word.

O what is death but parting breath
Over mony’s a bloody plain?
For in this place I’ve dried his face,
I’ve scorn them yet again.

The reprieve wis comin oer the brig o Banff
For tae let MacPherson free.
When they put the clock a quarter before
And hanged him to the tree.

There’s some come here to see me hung
And some tae buy ma fiddle.
But before ’at I do part wi her
I’ll break her through the middle.

I’ve lived a life o stoot and strife,
I die by treachery.
For it is my life to live in life,
Or live in slaveries.

Jimmy McBeath sings MacPherson’s Rant (1967)

Fareweel ye dungeons dark an’ strong
MacPherson’s time will no be long
Below than gallows tree I’ll hing

Chorus:
So rantinly, sae wantonly
And sae dauntinly went he
He played a tune then he danced aroon
Below the gallows tree.

There’s some cam’ here to see me hang’t
An’ some to buy my fiddle
But before ’at I do part wi’ her
l’ll break her through the middle.

He took the fiddle into both of his hands
An’ he broke it over a stone,
Says he, “There’s no anither han’ll play on thee
When I am dead and gone.”

It wis by a woman’s treacherous hand
’at I wis condemned to dee
Below a ledge a windae she stood
Then a blanket she threw ower me

The laird o’ Grant, the Highland sa’nt
’at first laid hands on me
He played the cause on Peter Broon
Tee let MacPherson dee

Untie these bands from off my hands
An’ gae bring to me my sword
For there’s no a man in all Scotland
But’|l brave him at his word.

The reprieve wis comin’ o’er the Brig o’ Banff
For tae let MacPherson free
When they put the clock a quarter before
Then hanged him to the tree.

I’ve lived a life o’ sturt an’ strife
I die by treachery
O it breaks my heart, I must depart
An’ live in slavery

Fareweel you life, you sunshine bright
And all beneath the skies
For in this place I’m ready to
MacPherson’s time tae die

Davie Stewart sings MacPherson’s Rant (1954)

Fare ye weel, ye dark and lonely hills
Fareweel beneath the sky
MacPherson’s rant, O, nae do lang
Below the gallows tree.

Chorus:
Rantin-ree, ranteree,
O ranteree was he.
He played a/the tune and he danced it roon/aroon
Below the gallows tree.

It was all beneath her window sill
A blanket she flew over me
The kye the kin on Jimmy Broon [?]
And let ye MacPherson be.

O the Laird o’ Grant, yon Highland saint,
That first laid hands on me.
Play a tune, Peter Broon.
And let MacPherson free.

Fareweel, my ain dear Highland hame,
Fare ye weel, my wife and my bairn.
There was nae repentence at my heart
While my fiddle was in my airms.

The reprieve was coming over the brig o’ Banff,
When I stood on the gallow hill to see.
They put the clock three-quarters fast,
And marched him to the tree.

Fareweel, fareweel, MacPherson, noo
The day has come and you mun dee.
MacGargle to tak my wife and bairns
Ere I swing below the tree.

Cursed be now the English law,
That first condemneth me.
Fareweel, all Scotland, here I’ll die,
I’ll swing below the tree.

Some cam here noo to buy my fiddle
And many to see me dee,
But afore I I will sell my fiddle
I’d break her across my knee.

Davie Stewart sings MacPherson’s Lament (1956)

Fare thee weel, you dungeons dark and strong,
Fareweel, fareweel to thee.
MacPherson’s rant will ne’er be lang.
On yonder gallers tree.

Chorus:
Sae wantonly, sae dauntonly,
O rantonly gaed he,
He played a tune an’ he danced aroon,
Below the gallers tree.

Well the Laird o’ Grant, you Highlan’ sa’nt
That first laid hands on me.
He plead the cause o’ Peter Broon,
He watched MacPherson dee.

By a woman’s treacherous hand
That I was condemned to dee.
High on a ledge of her window she stood.
And a blanket she threw over me.

Some come here noo tae see me hang
And some tae buy my fiddle.
Before I’ll pairt wi’ thee
I’ll brak’ her through the middle.

Come ye loose the bands from off my hands
Bring tae me noo my sword.
There’s nae a man in a’ Scotland
That’ll brave him at his word.

Little did my mother think
When first she cradled me,
That I would turn a rovin’ boy
And die upon the gallers tree.

The reprieve was cornin’ o’er the brig o’ Banff,
To set MacPherson free.
They pu’ the clock a quarter fast.
And they hanged him to the tree.

Jeannie Robertson sings McPherson’s Farewell

For it’s some cam’ here for tae buy my fiddle,
There’s ithers tae see me dee;
There wis some cam’ for tae see me hang
On yonder gallows tree.

Chorus:
Sae rantin’ly, sae wantonly,
Sae daatin’ly gaed he;
For he played a tune an’ he danced it roon’
Below the gallows tree.

But it’s gie tae me one tune o’ my fiddle,
An’ let me play her free;
Before I let onyone play on her,
I will brak her owre ma knee.

It is place the cause on Peter Broon,
An’ let MacPherson free;
All through a woman’s treachery.
It’s caased MacPherson tae dee.

Jock Higgins sings MacPherson’s Lament

Farewell, ye dungeons dark and strong,
Farewell, farewell to thee;
MacPherson’s time will nae be lang
In yonder’s gallows tree.

Chorus:
Sae rantonly, sae wantonly,
Sae dauntonly gaed he -
For he played a tune and he danced aroond
Below the gallows tree.

O, it was by a woman’s treacherous hand
That I was condemned to dee;
Below a ledge o’ a window she stood
A blanket she threw o’er me.

O, the Laird o’ Grant, that Hieland saint,
That first laid hands on me -
He placed the cause on Peter Broon
To let MacPherson dee.

O, come tie these bands from off my hands
And gie to me my fiddle -
There’s nae a man in a’ Scotland
But brave’s me at my word.

O, there’s some come here to see me hung
And some to buy my fiddle,
Before I would pairt wi’ her
I’d brak her through the middle.

Verse sung instead of the chorus:
I took my fiddle in both my hands
And broke her ower a stone;
There’s nae anither will play on thee
When I am dead and gone.

O, it’s little did my mither think
When first she cradled me,
That I would turn a rovin’ boy
And die on a gallows tree.

O, his reprieve was comin’ o’er the brig o’ Banff
To set MacPherson free
They put the clock a quarter afore
And they hung him tae the tree.

Jock Duncan sings MacPherson’s Rant

Chorus:
Sae wantonly, and sae dantonly,
And sae wantonly gaed he.
He played the tune and he danced it aroun’
Below the gallows tree.

Fareweel ye dungeons dark an’ strang,
Fareweel, fareweel tae ee,
MacPherson’ rant will nae be lang
On yonder gallows tree.

It’s by a woman’ treacherous hands
That I wis condemned tae dee,
Fae a high up windae in Granton’ fair
She threw a blanket ower me.

Little little would my mither think
When first she cradled me,
That I wid dee a rovin’ boy
On yonder gallows tree.

Some come here tae see me hang,
An’ some tae tak’ my fiddle,
Bit afore that I dae pairt wi’ her,
I wad brak her ower the middle.

He took the fiddle in baith his hands
And he brak her ower a stane,
There’ nae anither will play wi’ thee
When I am deid and gaen.

The Laird o’ Grant, thon Heelan’ Chief,
That first laid hands on me,
He’ gaen a pardon tae Peter Broon,
But he’ll watch MacPherson dee.

A pardon wis comin’ ower the bonnie brig o’ Banff,
Tae set peer Jimmy free,
They advanced the clock a quarter o’ an oor,
An’ they hang’ him fae the tree.

Ed Miller sings MacPherson’s Farewell

Fareweel ye dungeons dark and sträng,
Fareweel, fareweel tae thee,
MacPherson’s time will no be lang
On yonder gallows tree.

Chorus:
Sae rantinly, sae wantonly
And sae dauntinly gaed he,
He played a tune and he danced it aroon,
Alow the gallows tree.

Untie these bands frae off my hands,
And gie tae me my sword,
An there’s no’ a man in a’ Scotland
But I’ll brave him at his word.

There’s some come here tae see me hang,
An some tae buy my fiddle;
But before that I do part wi her,
I’ll brak her thro the middle.

So he’s ta’en the fiddle in baith o’ his hands,
And he’s brak it ower a stane;
Sayin, “there’s nae ither hand shall play on thee
When I am deid an ga’en!”

The reprieve was cornin’ o’er the Brig o’ Banff
Tae set MacPherson free;
But they put the clock a quarter afore,
An hanged him frae the tree.

Ian Bruce sings MacPherson’s Farewell

Farewell, ye dungeons dark and strang,
The wretch’s destinie!
MacPherson’s time will not be long,
On yonder gallows-tree.

Sae rantingly, sae wantonly,
Sae dauntingly gaed he;
He play’d a tune, and danc’d it roond,
Ablow the gallows-tree.

Whit is daith but parting braith?
On mony a bloody plain
I’ve dar’d his face, and in this place
I scorn him yet again!

Untie these bands frae aff ma hands,
And bring tae me ma sword;
And there’s no a man in a’ Scotland,
But I’ll brave him at a word.

I’ve liv’d a life of sturt and strife;
I die by treacherie:
It burns my hert I must depart,
And not avenged be.

Now fareweel licht, thou sunshine bricht,
And a’ beneath the sky!
May coward shame distain his name,
The wretch that daurs not die!

Sae rantingly, sae wantonly;
Sae dauntingly gaed he;
He play’d a tune, and danc’d it roond,
Ablow the gallows-tree.

Danny Couper and Carol Anderson sing MacPherson’s Fareweel

“Fareweel ye dungeons dark and strong,
Fareweel, fareweel tae ye;
MacPherson’s time it’ll nae be lang,
On yonder gallows tree.
Sae wantonly, sae rantinly, sae wantonly gaed he,
He played a tune and he danced aroond,
Aye, below the gallows tree.

“It was by a woman’s treacherous hand,
That I’m condemned tae dee;
Below her window ledge I stood,
And a blanket she threw o’er me.
Sae rantinly, sae wantonly, sae rantinly gaed he,
He played a tune and he danced aroon,
Aye, below the gallows tree.

“Aye, there’s some come here for tae see me hang,
An some tae buy ma fiddle;
But before that I wad pairt wi it,
I wad brak it though the middle.
Sae rantinly etc

“Aye, tak off these bands fae off ma hands,
And gie tae me ma sword;
And there’s nae another man in aa Scotland,
That will tak me at my word.”
Sae rantinly, sae dauntinly, sae wantonly gaed he,
He played a tune and he danced aroon,
Aye, below the gallows tree.

He’s taen the fiddle intae baith his hands,
He’s broke it o’er a stane;
“For there’s nae a another man in aa Scotland,
That’ll play when I am gane.
Sae rantinly etc

“Aye, little did my mither think,
When first she cradled me;
That I wad turn a roving boy,
And die on the gallows tree.”
Sae rantinly etc

The reprieve it wis comin o’er the brig o Banff,
Tae let MacPherson free;
But they put the clock a quarter afore,
And they hung him fae the tree.
Sae rantinly, sae wantonly, sae rantinly gaed he,
He played a tune and he danced aroon,
Aye, below the gallows tree.

In the chorus the words, rantinly, wantonly and dauntinly are somewhat variable.

Jim Malcolm sings MacPherson’s Rant

Fareweel ye dungeons dark and strang,
Fareweel, fareweel tae ye
MacPherson’s rant will no be long
Upon the gallow’s tree.

Chorus (after each verse):
Sae rantingly, sae wantonly
Sae dauntingly gaed he
He played a tune and he danced it roun’
Ablow the gallows tree.

Twas by a woman’s treacherous hand
That I was condemned tae die
Beneath a ledge at a window she stood
And a blanket she threw o’er me.

The Laird o Grant, that Hieland sant
That first laid hands on me
He played the cause on Peter Broon
Tae let MacPherson free.

Untie these bands frae off my hands
And gie tae me my sword
There’s no a man in all Scotland
But I’ll brave him at his word.

There’s some come here tae see me hanged
And some tae buy my fiddle
But afore that I do part wi’ her
I’ll brak her through the middle.

He took the fiddle in both his hands
And he broke it o’er a stane
There’s no anither man shall play on her
When I am deid and gane.

O little did my mammy think
When first she cradled me
That I would turn a rovin’ boy
And die on the gallows tree.

The reprieve was comin o’er the brig o Banff
Tae set MacPherson free
But they set the clock a quarter afore
And they hanged him frae the tree.