Jessie MacLachlan

Jessie Niven MacLachlan (Scottish Gaelic: Seònaid NicLachlainn) (18 June 1866 – 13 May 1916) was a Scottish Gaelic soprano.

Jessie MacLachlan
Jessie MacLachlan, from a postcard published in Australia, circa 1900; from the National Library of Australia
Born18 June 1866
Oban, Scotland
Died13 May 1916
Glasgow, Scotland
NationalityBritish
Other namesSeònaid NicLachlainn (Gaelic)
OccupationSinger

Early life

Jessie Niven MacLachlan was born at Oban, the eldest of eight children born to Alexander MacLachlan and Margaret Campbell Niven. Her father was an auctioneer.[1]

Career

MacLachlan achieved fame as a stage singer of Gaelic song.[2] She performed for Queen Victoria, at Balmoral Castle in 1892.[3] She toured extensively. She shared a bill with singer Harry Lauder and violinist Mackenzie Murdoch on a Scottish tour.[4] She toured in North America in 1901;[5] while in Canada, she sang with a teenaged Henry Burr, at the Opera House in Saint John.[6] In 1902 she sang at the Scottish Concert of the London Inverness-shire Association, to raise funds for Scottish scholarships and a "Home Club for Highland Lads" in London.[7] In 1905 she sang at a Burns Monument Fund benefit concert in Boston.[8] She performed in New Zealand in 1905 and again in 1907.[9][10]

During her North American tour MacLachlan was celebrated in newspapers and helped to increase the popularity of Gaelic song there.[11] "Whether it is crooning a Highland cradle song, or a call to the clans to take up arms, she is equally successful," observed one New Zealand reviewer in 1907, about her repertoire.[12]

In September 1899 MacLachlan made the first commercial gramophone recording of Gaelic song, performing "Oro Mo Nighean Donn Bhòidheach" ("Ho-ro my nut-brown maiden") to piano accompaniment.[13] She made further recordings in England in 1903.[14]

Personal life
Jessie MacLachlan's headstone in Cathcart Cemetery, Glasgow

Jessie MacLachlan married her accompanist, fellow musician Robert Buchanan, in 1887.[1] They had a son. She died in Glasgow in 1916, aged 49 years, shortly after making a "hazardous journey" from France during World War I.[1] Her grave is in Cathcart Cemetery.[15]

References
  1. Ewan, Elizabeth L.; Innes, Sue; Reynolds, Sian; Pipes, Rose (27 June 2007). Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women. Edinburgh University Press. p. 233. ISBN 978-0-7486-2660-1.
  2. Maloney, Paul (13 September 2003). Scotland and the Music Hall, 1850-1914. Manchester University Press. p. 174. ISBN 978-0-7190-6147-9.
  3. "British". The Caledonian. 19: 104. June 1919.
  4. Lauder, Sir Harry (19 December 2019). Between You and Me. Good Press.
  5. "Plays and Players" Navy & Army Illustrated (21 November 1903): iii.
  6. "Henry Burr | Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame Inductee". Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  7. "Miss Jessie MacLachlan". The King of Illustrated Papers. 6: 796. 12 July 1902.
  8. "Burns Monument Fund". The Inter-Nation: 123. 23 February 1905.
  9. "Special Farewell Concert To-night!". Manawatu Standard. 21 November 1905. p. 1. Retrieved 1 December 2011.
  10. "Jessie MacLachlan, the Scottish Queen of Song". Oamaru Mail. 26 July 1907. p. 4. Retrieved 19 March 2020 – via Papers Past.
  11. Life in the City
  12. "Miss Jessie MacLachlan, The Distinguished Scottish Soprano". The Feilding Star. 2 September 1907. p. 2. Retrieved 19 March 2020 – via Papers Past.
  13. http://www.csis.ul.ie/naaclt2000/final_proceedings.htm. (Nilsen, K. Living Celtic Speech: Celtic Sound Archives in North America)
  14. Hoffmann, Frank; Cooper, B. Lee; Gracyk, Tim (12 November 2012). Popular American Recording Pioneers: 1895-1925. Routledge. p. 53. ISBN 978-1-136-59229-4.
  15. Tait, Derek (30 August 2016). Glasgow in the Great War. Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-1-4738-7316-2.
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