Is this Song Scottish, or English? Is it even Genuine?

Karen has spent some time pondering these questions when she researches historic Scottish song.  As far back as the 18th century, song collectors were debating the nationality of the material they collected.  

For example, take Joseph Ritson.  He was from the north east of England, but made collections of both English and Scottish songs.  A stickler for detail, it mattered enormously to him that everything was well-documented and annotated.  The antics of other less scrupulous collectors really annoyed him.  (In fact, he called himself "Anti-Scot", but he was actually anti-John Pinkerton and most particularly, anti-James MacPherson, of Ossian fame.  He was certainly not anti Scottish music.)

A century later, the English ballad collector William Chappell similarly got himself into hot water by suggesting some old Scottish songs were really English.  You can read more about the whole issue here in 'From ‘Anti-Scot', to ‘Anti-Scottish Sentiment': Cultural Nationalism and Scottish Song in the Late Eighteenth to Nineteenth Centuries'.

William Motherwell, the 19th century ballad collector, was another person who strenuously asserted his meticulous approach to ballad-collecting. However, his friend Robert Archibald Smith said the songs in the Scotish Minstrel  were all genuine, but we know from his correspondence with Motherwell that this wasn't entirely true.  The same goes for Scottish poet Allan Cunningham.

By the end of the 19th century, attitudes were becoming more relaxed.  In later editions of Wood's Songs of Scotland (initially edited by George Farquhar Graham), there was more chance of 'Scottish songs' being accepted as Scottish by repute as much as by established origin.

Where does that leave The Ashokan Farewell and Highland Cathedral?  We wouldn't venture to comment!

Useful resources in the Whittaker Library:-

• Joseph Ritson, Scotish Songs 
• James Macpherson, The poems of Ossian
• William Chappell, Popular Music of the Olden Time 
• William Motherwell, Minstrelsy Ancient and Modern
• Robert Archibald Smith, Scotish Minstrel 
• Karen McAulay, Our Ancient National Airs
• Scottish songs in the Whittaker Library Catalogue  (a very long list!)

Charlatan or Creative Artist? James Macpherson died 17 February 1796

James Macpherson, the poet of Ossian

On this day in 1796, James Macpherson died.  He has been derided as a charlatan on account of  his 'Ossian' poetry collections.  But is this right?  'Charlatan' is a loaded, critical term.  Was he economical with the truth as far as the sources of his material were concerned?  From a modern vantage point, Macpherson's main failing was a lack of transparency: he failed to explain satsifactorily just what he had done with his 'translations'.  

Certainly, his poetry attracted a huge following - anyone that was anybody bought his books!

Read our earlier posting.

On this day: poet James Macpherson

How many drama students have encountered the 18th-century play, Douglas, by John Home?

James Macpherson

Home is also famed (and blamed) for encouraging poet James Macpherson to produce his Ossian epic verses. 

If you've ever lived in a street or a house named Ossian, Fingal, Oscar, Ullin, Malvina, Cona ... (the list goes on, but I'll stop there), then blame Macpherson.  His Works of Ossian were a careful weaving together of Gaelic tales, with a good bit of his own poetic creativity thrown in.  He was one of the most controversial figures of 18th century Scotland.  And he inspired many creative artists, Europe wide - eg, Mendelssohn's Fingal's Cave ('The Hebrides overture', op.26).

Macpherson died on 17 February 1796 and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

• See what's in the Whittaker Library about Macpherson and his Ossian poems
• (See John Home's own respectable output - Douglas)