James Macpherson (–1700) was a Scottish outlaw, famed for his lament before execution. He grew up a talented swordsman and fiddle player, then became leader of a gang of robbers. He was arrested in Keith and died in Banff. The lament was rewritten by

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the List of national poets, national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the be ...

as ''McPherson's Farewell''.

Early life

James Macpherson was born the illegitimate son of a

Clan Macpherson Clan Macpherson ( , ) is a Scottish clan from the Scottish Highlands, Highlands and a member of the Chattan Confederation. History Origins The Scottish Gaelic surname for Macpherson is ''Mac a' Phearsain'' which means ''son of the parson''. ...

laird Laird () is a Scottish word for minor lord (or landlord) and is a designation that applies to an owner of a large, long-established Scotland, Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a Baronage of ...

from Invereshie,

Inverness-shire Inverness-shire () or the County of Inverness, is a Counties of Scotland, historic county in Scotland. It is named after Inverness, its largest settlement, which was also the county town. Covering much of the Scottish Highlands, Highlands and s ...

and a woman who was either Romani or a Traveller. He was brought up at Invereshie House then after his father died prematurely, he lived with his itinerant mother.

Outlaw

MacPherson grew up a talented swordsman and fiddle player, who formed a gang which robbed the rich lairds of the

Province of Moray Moray (; ; ) was a province within the area of modern-day Scotland, that may at times up to the 12th century have operated as an independent kingdom or as a power base for competing claimants to the Kingdom of Alba. It covered a much larger terr ...

and gave to the poor, making him a

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...

figure. The

Parliament of Scotland In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

had made it illegal to be or suspected of being Romani with the Gypsies Act 1609, so Macpherson lived as a criminal as soon as he joined his mother and furthermore he had angered a local land-owner, William Duff of Braco, who wanted to stop the robberies. Macpherson was captured in Aberdeen then managed to escape from prison with the help of his family. After an aggressive confrontation in September 1700 with Duff's men at the St Rufus Fair in Keith, Macpherson fled but fell over a gravestone and was detained. He was taken to Banff for trial under the 1609 act with three other outlaws; he was found guilty alongside his comrade James Gordon and both were sentenced to

death by hanging Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerous countries and regions. ...

Death and legacy

Whilst on

death row Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting executio ...

, Macpherson composed his ''Rant'' which he performed when he was taken to the

gallows A gallows (or less precisely scaffold) is a frame or elevated beam, typically wooden, from which objects can be suspended or "weighed". Gallows were thus widely used to suspend public weighing scales for large and heavy objects such as sa ...

at the

mercat cross A mercat cross is the Scots language, Scots name for the market cross found frequently in Scotland, Scottish cities, towns and villages where historically the right to hold a regular market or fair was granted by the monarch, a bishop or ...

on 16 November 1700. This lament inspired

to write the famous poem ''McPherson’s Farewell''. Macpherson then broke his fiddle and was hanged. A popular story relates that Macpherson's mother was able to obtain a reprieve for him in

Turriff Turriff () is a town and civil parish in Aberdeenshire in Scotland. It lies on the River Deveron, about above sea level, and has a population of 5,708. In everyday speech it is often referred to by its Scots name ''Turra'', which is deriv ...

, but Duff set the time on the Banff town clock forward by 15 minutes so that the execution had already taken place by the time the messenger arrived by horse. Macpherson's fame grew after J. G. Phillips released a sympathetic biography in 1894 entitled 'James MacPherson: The Highland freebooter''. His smashed fiddle is on display at the museum of Clan Macpherson in

Newtonmore Newtonmore ( ) is a village of approximately 1100 inhabitants in Badenoch, within the Highland (council area), Highland council area of Scotland. The village is only a few miles from a location that is claimed to be the exact geographical centre ...

, near

Kingussie Kingussie ( ; ) is a small town in the Badenoch and Strathspey ward of the Highland council area of Scotland. Counties of Scotland, Historically in Inverness-shire, it lies beside the A9 road (Great Britain), A9 road, although the old route of ...

. His

claymore A claymore (; from , "great sword") is either the Scottish variant of the late medieval two-handed sword or the Scottish variant of the basket-hilted sword. The former is characterised as having a cross hilt of forward-sloping quillons with ...

and

targe The targe is a type of strapped round shield that was used by Scottish Highlanders in the early modern period. From the late 16th century, until the Battle of Culloden in 1746, the Scottish Highlander's main means of defence in battle was his ...

were held at

Duff House Duff House is a Georgian estate house in Banff, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Now in the care of Historic Environment Scotland, it is part of the National Galleries Scotland and is a Category A listed building. The house is built of ashlar in ...

in Banff, now his sword is also in Newtonmore. In Banff he is remembered by the name of the Broken Fiddle cafe.

Early life

Outlaw

Death and legacy

References

Further reading