Below the Gallows Tree

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Notes

Composed and played by James MacPherson, a robber and fiddler, shortly before he was hanged on 16 November 1700. He reportedly played the tune at the scaffold. There is a myth that he destroyed the fiddle so that nobody else could ever play it again. The truth seems to be that he offerred his fiddle to anyone in the crowd. There were no takers, possibly from fear of being considered his friend, so he smashed the fiddle and threw the pieces at the crowd. Part of the story is that the local authorities, fearing the arrival of a reprieve, advanced the clock so as to speed up his execution. The fiddle's remains are in the MacPherson Clan museum at Newtonmore. The published versions of this tune vary widely, not surprisingly for a song air.

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Air Only 1 transcription Has lots of stepwise movement Has some stepwise movement Never repeats a note major G 2/2 Has notes text Has chords explore more...

ABC

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X: 1
T: MacPherson's Rant
T: MacPherson's Lament
T: Below the Gallows Tree
R: air
C: James MacPherson, 1700
N:
N: Composed and played by James MacPherson, a robber and fiddler, shortly before he was
N: hanged on 16 November 1700. He reportedly played the tune at the scaffold. There is a
N: myth that he destroyed the fiddle so that nobody else could ever play it again. The
N: truth seems to be that he offerred his fiddle to anyone in the crowd. There were no
N: takers, possibly from fear of being considered his friend, so he smashed the fiddle
N: and threw the pieces at the crowd. Part of the story is that the local authorities,
N: fearing the arrival of a reprieve, advanced the clock so as to speed up his execution.
N: The fiddle's remains are in the MacPherson Clan museum at Newtonmore. The
N: published versions of this tune vary widely, not surprisingly for a song air.
Z: John Chambers <jc@trillian.mit.edu>
B: Hunter #10;  Harp & Claymore p.149;  Hardie p.115, BSFC I-15.
M: C|
L: 1/8
K: G
D2 || "G"~G3A G2B2 | "D7"{B}A-GA-B A2E-F | "G"G3A B2A-G | "C"E4- "D7"E2D2 |

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