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Bha mi ag innse eachdraidh Sheumais Mhic a’ Phearsain, an ceatharnach ainmeil. Thàinig latha a chrochaidh ann am Banbh.

Bha teachdaire air an rathad a Bhanbh air muin-eich. Bha stad-breith aige bho chùirt nas àirde ann an Obar Dheathain.

Dh’òrdaich an siorram an cloc ann am meadhan Bhanbh a chur air adhart cairteal na h-uarach. Mar sin, thàinig uair a’ chrochaidh mus do ràinig an teachdaire meadhan a’ bhaile. Bha mòran daoine air an tàmailteachadh mu dheidhinn.

Fhad ʼs a bha e sa phrìosan, chruthaich Seumas òran. Ghabh e e, agus e a’ seinn na fìdhle aig an aon àm mus deach e air a’ chroich. Seo aon dreach dheth:

Fareweel ye dungeons dark and strang, fareweel, fareweel tae ye,MacPherson’s time will nae be lang on yonder gallows tree

Sae rantinly, sae wantonly, sae dauntinly gaed heHe played a tune and he danced it aroon below the gallows tree

It was by a woman’s treacherous hand I was condemned tae deeAboon a ledge at a window she sat, a blanket she threw ow’r me

There’s some come here tae see me hang, and some tae buy my fiddleBut before that I wid part wi’ her I'd brak her through the middle

He took the fiddle intae baith o his hands and he brak it ower a staneSayin, nay ither hand shall play on thee when I am dead and gane

The reprieve was comin’ ow’r the Brig o Banff tae set MacPherson free,But they pit the clock a quarter afore, and they hanged him frae the tree.

Anns an òran, bhris Seumas fhidheall air clach. Ach dh’aithris cuid gun do dh’fhaighnich e an gabhadh duine i – air a’ chùmhnant ʼs gum biodh iad a’ cluich an aon phuirt oirre aig taigh-aire dha. Cha robh duine deònach an fhidheall a ghabhail oir bha tòrr nàimhdean aig Seumas an làthair. Mar sin, bhris Seumas an fhidheall thairis air a ghlùin. Dh’èigh e nach cluicheadh duine eile i. Agus chaidh e air a’ chroich.

Thug fear de chàirdean Sheumais an fhidheall bhriste air ais a Bhàideanach. Tha i a-nise ann an Taigh-tasgaidh Clann Mhic a’ Phearsain ann am Baile Ùr an t-Slèibh.

I was relating the story of James MacPherson, the famous freebooter. The day of his hanging came in Banff.

A messenger was on the way to Banff on horseback. He had a reprieve from a higher court in Aberdeen.

The sheriff ordered the clock in the middle of Banff to be put forward a quarter of an hour. Thus, the time of the hanging arrived before the messenger reached the middle of the town. Many people were horrified about it.

While he was in prison, James created a song. He sang it, playing the fiddle at the same time, before going on the gibbet. Here is one version of it.

Fareweel ye dungeons dark and strang, fareweel, fareweel tae ye,MacPherson’s time will nae be lang on yonder gallows tree

Sae rantinly, sae wantonly, sae dauntinly gaed heHe played a tune and he danced it aroon below the gallows tree

It was by a woman’s treacherous hand I was condemned tae deeAboon a ledge at a window she sat, a blanket she threw ow’r me

There’s some come here tae see me hang, and some tae buy my fiddleBut before that I wid part wi’ her I'd brak her through the middle

He took the fiddle intae baith o his hands and he brak it ower a staneSayin, nay ither hand shall play on thee when I am dead and gane

The reprieve was comin’ ow’r the Brig o Banff tae set MacPherson free,But they pit the clock a quarter afore, and they hanged him frae the tree.

In the song, James broke the fiddle on a stone. But some people reported that he asked if anyone would take it – on condition that they play the same tune on it at his wake. Nobody was willing to take the fiddle because many of James’s enemies were present. So James broke the fiddle over his knee. He shouted that nobody else would play it. And he went on the gibbet.

One of James’s relatives took the broken fiddle back to Badenoch. It’s now in the Clan MacPherson Museum in Newtonmore.