This is a true story, the details are well documented.
This tune tells the story of the last moments of James MacPherson who was framed
for a crime which he didn't commit and was hanged in Banff in the year 1700.
There was a reprieve but it didn't arrive in time. This tune is also MacPherson's
Lament or MacPherson's Farewell. It's sometimes completely atributed to Robert
Burns--although Burns didnŐt write the original and, according
to the Clan Macpherson website, James MacPherson penned that while in jail awaiting
his fate and it goes as follows:
I spent my life in rioting,
Debauch'd my health and stength
I squander'd fast as pillage came,
And fell to shame at length.
My father was a gentleman
Of fame and honour high
Oh mother, would you ne'er had borne
The son so doom'd to die.
The Laird of Grand
The Royal Majesty,
Pass'd his great word for Peter Brown
And let Macpherson die.
But Braco Duff, with rage enough,
First laid a snare for me,
And if that death did not prevent,
Aveng'd I well could be.
But vengeance I did never wreak,
When power was in my hand,
And you, dear friends,
no vengeance seek,
It is my last command.
Forgive the man whose rage betray'd
Macpherson's worthless life;
When I am gone, be it not said,
My legacy was strife
.
MacPherson's fiddle (which he really did break after
he last played it beneath the Gallow's pole) is on display at the Clan
MacPherson museum in Scotland.
Click on his fiddle (above) to learn more.
Robert Burns instead wrote a variation on the above
1788. Burns and the version highlighted here contains bits of Burns' song as
well as some additional verses which have been added over time. I'm not sure
who added those. There are several variations of the lyrics floating around
the Traditional music scene.
On the one that I know the guitar chords are very simple and leaves a lot of
breathing room for the other instruments... It's most of the same chords I IV
and V in A (which is a very fiddle friendly key,). The instrumental section's
chords are similar to above, but there's a spot where it takes on a faster harmonic
rhythm (harmonic rhythm is the rate at which the chord changes).
The melody I know is as follows:
I learned the melody from a version Ian F. Benzie sang - this is just a rough
sketch. You can hear his performance of this tune on the Old Blind Dog's
CD Close to the Bone.
To date Benzie's interpretation of this tune is by far one of my favourites
although I heard an accapella version sung at a local Ceilidh recently which
is in close second!
The version below A major used a D sus 2 (which is a D major chord where you
lift your finger off of the high E string) you can also play a D major instead
but you loose the drone effect of the E throughout... It's possible this melody
began as a pipe tune as well.
(Amaj) A Fareweel ye dungeons (Emaj) dark and
strong
(Amajor) Alake, fareweel (Dsus2) tae thee
(Amaj) MacPherson's time will (Emaj) no be long
(Amaj)On yonder (Dsus2) gallow's (Emaj) tree
'Twas by a woman's treacherous hand
I was condemned tae dee
She carried me o'ver (tae) the windae sill
and a blanket she threw o'er me
Sae rantinly sae dauntingly and sae wantonly gaed he,
he played a tune and he danced it aroon an a below the gallow's tree
The laird o' Grand o' that Heilan' sa'nt
When he first laid hands on me
He pleads the cause of Peter Broon (Brown)
Och! let MacPherson dee
Untie these bands frae aff my hands
and bring tae me my sword
Theres nae a man in a' Scotland
But I'll brave him at his word.
Sae wantonly and sae dauntingly sae rantinly gaed he,
he played his tune and he danced it aroon an a below the gallow's tree
Oh, there are some come here for to see me hanged
and some tae buy my fiddle
But before I do pairt wi' her
I'll brak it o'er the middle
He teen the fiddle into baith his hands
and brak it o'er a stane
There's no anither hand (man) will (gonna) play on thee (her) <(alt lyrics)>
fin I am deid and gane.
Sae rantonly and sae dauntingly sae wantonly gaed he,
he played his tune and he danced it aroond an a below the gallow's tree
Oh little did my mither think
When first that she cradled me
That I would turn tae the rovin' trade
and die (I'd hang) on a gallows tree
A reprieve was comin o'er the brig o' Banff
(for) To set Macpherson free
He/They put the clock aye a quarter a'fore
and they hanged him frae the tree.
Sae rantinly and sae dauntingly (aye) sae wantonly gaed he.
He played a tune and he danced it aroon an a below the gallow's tree.
Farewell, ye dungeons dark and strong,
The wretch's destinie!
M'Pherson's time will not be long
On yonder gallows-tree.
Chorus: Sae rantingly, sae wantonly,
Sae dauntingly gaed 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 dared his face, and in this place
I scorn him yet again!
Chorus
Untie these bands from off my hands,
And bring me to my sword;
And there's no a man in all Scotland
But I'll brave him at a word.
Chorus
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.
Chorus
. Now farewell light, thou sunshine bright,
And all beneath the sky!
May coward shame distain his name,
The wretch that dares not die!
Chorus