Annotation:Lord Lovat's Lament
X:1 T:Lord Lovat's Lament M:C L:1/8 R:Slow March Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:G GA | B2 B>d cB AG | B<d d>e d2 e>f | g2 dg ed BG | B<A A>B A2 G>A | B2 B>d cB AG | B<d d>e d2 BG | c>d ed/c/ B<d c>A | G2 G>A G2 || ef | g2 dg ed BG | B<d d>e d2 ef | g2 dg ed BG | B<A A>B A2 G>A | B2 Bd cB AG | B<d d>e d2 BG | c>d ed/c/ B<d c>A | G2 G>A G2 ||
LORD LOVAT'S LAMENT (Cumha Mhic Shimidh). AKA - "Lord Lovat's March." AKA and see "Lament for the Highland Clearances." Scottish (originally), Canadian; Slow March (4/4 time). Canada; Cape Breton, Prince Edward Island. A Major (Johnson, Perlman): G Major (Martin, Sweet). Standard tuning (fiddle). AB (Johnson, Sweet): AABB (Martin, Perlman). A well-known bagpipe march which entered fiddle repertory, perhaps through fife and drum sources. The piece is said to have been composed by either Ewen MacGregor or his pupil David Fraser, both pipers to Simon Lord Lovat. The tune would be in mixolydian mode for the bagpipes. Lovat was famous for his role in the unsuccessful Jacobite rebellion of 1745 (see note for "Lord Lovat Beheaded").
"Lord Lovat's Lament" sometimes substituted at funerals in place of "Flowers of the Forest (1)" by pipers in some parts of Cape Breton, according to Barry Shears. He relates this tale that occurred in the small village of Port Hood, Inverness County:
There occurred in this community the death of a man who was not well liked, but he was especially despised by the local piper and fiddler, Ranald ‘Màiri Bhàin’ Beaton (1859–1960). According to local tradition, when the man died, his family wanted an old-style Scotch funeral with six men actually carrying the corpse behind a piper. In spite of knowing of Ranald’s aversion to [the man], they still approached him to lead the cortege and were very surprised when they found that he was willing to play for his old adversary. On the way to the graveyard Ranald played the evocative slow air “Fuadach nan Gaidheal”. (The Exile of the Highlanders/Lord Lovat’s Lament). All went well and, after the funeral, someone asked Ranald what was the beautiful lively tune that he had played on the way back from the graveyard. Ranald replied in Gaelic that it was “Cuir do Shròin an Tòin a’ Choin Dubh”. (Put Your Nose in the Black Dog’s Arse).
The tune was actually "Lord Lovat's Lament."
