Annotation:Mrs. MacPherson of Cluny
X:1 T:Mrs. MacPherson of Cluny C:Joseph Lowe M:6/8 L:1/8 R:Jig B:Joseph Lowe - Lowe's Collection of Reels, Strathspeys and Jigs, B:book 5 (1859, p. 3) Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:A e|.c2e- ece|fga ecA|.c2 e- ecA|GAB Bcd| c2e ece|fga ecA|Bcd efg|aec A2:| |:e|a3 (Ace)|aga ecA|dcB dfB|bge efg| a3 Ace|aga ecA|Bcd efg|aec Ace| a3 (Ace)|aga ecA|dcB fdB|bge efg| a2e ece|fga ecA|Bcd efg|aec A2||
MRS. MACPHERSON OF CLUNY. AKA - "Wild Geese (The)." Scottish, Jig (6/8 time). A Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB. Composed by Inverness/Edinburgh fiddler and teacher of music and dance, biography:Joseph Lowe (1791-1866), who published an important collection of Scottish music in 1844-45. The Scottish Country Dance 'The Wild Geese' uses "Mrs. MacPherson of Cluny" as its vehicle, and thus the tune is sometimes called by the same name as the dance. See also his "Reel of Cluny (The)."
Ewen MacPherson of Cluny was born in 1804 and was the grandson of Ewen of Cluny who fought for Bonnie Prince Charlie during the '45 Jacobite Rising. He became the 20th chief of the clan on the death of his father, Duncan, in 1817 (the heads of the clan were known as 'Cluny' or 'Cluny MacPherson' among the Highlanders). His Jacobite pedigree included being he great-grandson of Simon Lord Lovat and the great-great-grandson of Sir Ewan Cameron of Lochiel. With this great military ancestry it was unsurprising that he was an officer in the 42nd Highlanders, the Black Watch, and a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Inverness-shire Highland Rifle Volunteers until two or three years before his death in 1885. In 1832 Ewen married Sarah Justina, a daughter of Henry Davidson, Esq. of Tulloch, who was presumably Lowe's "Mrs. MacPherson of Cluny". Together they had four sons and three daughters. She did not long outlive "Old Cluny" and died in March, 1886.
