Annotation:MacKenzie's Rant

Back to MacKenzie's Rant

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MACKENZIE'S RANT. Scottish, Strathspey. A Dorian. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB (Cranford): AABB' (Kerr, Stewart-Robertson). The tune appears first in print in Niel Gow's 2nd collection (Edinburgh, 1788). The MacKenzies were a very powerful clan in the north of Scotland, who had many subordinate tribes who followed their banner. A gathering signal of the MacKenzie's was a beacon fire on the Tullorh ard, or high hilloch. Then the Croishtaraidh, or fiery cross, was sent through every strath and glen to warn of impending danger and to rouse and summon the inhabitants for action. The fiery hill was incorporated into the crest of the family of Seaforth (where it is often mistaken for a volcano), along with the motto Luceo non uro ("I englighten, I do not burn").

Source for notated version:

Printed sources: Cranford (Jerry Holland's Collection), 1995; No. 35, p. 10. Gow (Complete Repository, Part 1), 1799; p. 22. Kerr (Merry Melodies, vol. 2), 1880's; No. 59, p. 9. Manson (Hamilton's Universal Tune Book, vol. 2), 1846; p. 14. Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884; p. 47.

Recorded sources: Fiddlesticks cass., Jerry Holland - "A Session with Jerry Holland" (1990). Dave MacIsaac - "Nimble Fingers."

See also listing at:
Alan Snyder's Cape Breton Fiddle Recordings Index [1]

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