MacCrimmon's Lament

Contributors

Higgins, Lizzie Ann, 1929-1993 (2900)

Fieldworkers

Munro, Ailie Edmunds, 1919-2002 (2887) Cooke, Peter Rich (3279) (1930-2020)

Date

Track ID 66017

Part 1

Track Information

Original Track ID

SA1970.78.A4

Original Tape ID

SA1970.078

Summary

A lament for MacCrimmon, who will never return [from battle]; the singer hears the wind howl and the banshees wail in sorrow.

Item Notes

3 verses and choruses of 4 lines; false start - song begun again at higher pitch after first refrain. On the previous track on the same tape (SA1970.78) Lizzie Higgins describes how she learned the song.

This song is based on the pibroch 'Cha Till e Tuille - Cumha Mhic Criomain' ('No More Returning - MacCrimmon's Lament'), said to have been composed in 1745 by Donald Ban MacCrimmon after a premonition of his own death. MacCrimmon was indeed killed during the Rout of Moy the following year. His sister is said to have composed the verses which spawned so many Gaelic, and later Scots and English variants, with her brother's pibroch serving as the basis for the tune of the song.

Recording Location

County - Midlothian

Parish - Edinburgh

Village/Place - Edinburgh

Language

English

Source Type

Reel to reel

Audio Quality

Good