Fighting Mac Hector MacDonald ,On 7 March 1870 MacDonald joined the Inverness-shire Highland Rifle Volunteers, and in 1871 enlisted in the 92nd Gordon Highlanders at Fort George. He rose rapidly through the noncommissioned ranks, and had already been a Colour Sergeant for some years when his distinguished conduct in the presence of the enemy during the Second Afghan War led to his being offered either a Victoria Cross or a commission in his regiment; he chose the latter.
Thank you!!! Been looking for this for soooooo long but every time I googled it Google kept giving me the Wolfe Tones instead! Damn I missed Wolfstone, the soundtrack of my path to adulthood!
I saw these guys in 1989 in a country tent at a cèilidh in the Highlands near Dingwall, when they were still playing small venues. There were numerous local bands, and Wolfstone absolutely stole the show. They were fucking amazing even back when they were "new".
Without a doubt, my favorite tune played by the one and only band that gives this great Scottish lamet it's power. Duncan Chisholm on the fiddle, and the late great Roddy McCourt on the Highland pipe, it brings a tear to me eye every time!
Those of us who were at all the Strawberry Festivals at Camp Mather remember well this amazing band. They were outstandingly great. We were lucky to have them grace the stage. Such energy and musicianship is rare. We love you guys! THANKS!
I first saw Wolfstone headlining at the Celtic music festival at Wolf Trap. I remember being so impressed with "Bonnie Ship of Diamonds." They are wonderful and I miss them.
I first heard this tune when Duncan Chisholm played it along with some friends during an informal "jamming session" in the Caledonian Hotel "The Caley" Beauly and instantly fell in love with it...Such a movingly haunting piece of music but only found out the name of the lament later.Fantastic and thank you to Wolfstone for this beautiful performance of it..!!!
Thanks for putting up this gig in Aberdeen. Keep coming back to them as I believe it's Wolfstone at their best. Never got to see them live and this is as good as it gets. Don't they look so young and Roddy....."Fois do t' anam"
sublime and truly beautiful and moving. To hell with amazing grace, this is the definitive Scottish lament and I feel very proud to be Scottish and to have music such as this as part of my culture and heritage. very noble whereas amazing grace is about a reformed slaver and finding god ( I don't like pious religion)
Wow, that's such a lovely arrrangement! Here's a fiddle or flute arrangement if anyone would like sheet music or a backing track for this lovely tune: musescore.com/user/643986/scores/5517663 "Hector the Hero" is a popular fiddle tune, a classic lament composed by the great Scottish composer James Scott Skinner in 1903. It laments the death by coerced suicide of Sir Hector ("Fighting Mac") MacDonald, a popular war hero in Scotland and England, who had been the Commander-in-Chief of British forces in Ceylon. MacDonald was a brilliant military strategist, an accomplished commander, and a polymath -- he spoke Hindustani, Urdu, Pushtu, Arabic, French, and English as well as his native Gaelic. At the time of his death he was the most popular and widely known war hero in Brittain, having been knighted for his service in the Second Boer War. MacDonald committed suicide in 1903 instead of facing a court martial following accusations of homosexual activity with the local Sinhalese. The scandal reaffirmed his heroic status among his native Scots, who understood that a similar scandal involving any of the aristocratic English officers would have been hushed up. They understood too that MacDonald was facing charges not so much for his perceived crime, but because as a Scot he had always been an outsider in the British military. Whatever the merit of charges of homosexuality, they were brought by a jealous British officer corps angered by MacDonald's real crime, that of being a low-born Scott who had risin through the ranks on merit alone, and who treated the local Sinhalese as equals. His funeral in Edinburgh was attended by 30,000 countrymen. Immediately after, the British government destroyed all records of the case against him, declared that there had been no basis for the charges, and declared him a glorious and unparalleled hero. See the Wikipedia article for a short biography of this amazing hero of Scotland.
Ellen Hilts-Gossett he comitted suicide by hanging himself in a hotel in Fort William after a gig, think at the time something was said about him just recently splitting with his girlfriend, though I might be wrong about that.
Ian MacIver Oh, Ian, I'm so sorry to hear about that. This band was/is my favorite Scots trad group (I like Battlefield Band, but I prefer Wolfstone). Especially to go that way (hanging oneself) is so very sad. I mourn with you.
Ian MacIver I heard that as well. A girl who went to school with him wrote me and confirmed the hanging. When I watch this video I think it's flat off the mournful sound of a Victorian who rose from being a crofter's son to a major-general in the army. Yet there were suspicions and aspersions cast upon him as to his sexuality and (before he could be court-martialed) he took his own life.
+Ellen Hilts-Gossett Hector MacDonald came from the same area as I come from, There are 2 memorials too him, one just along the road from his family croft and a large one in Mitchell Hill Cemetery overlooking Dingwall.
+Ellen Hilts-Gossett Thanks for replying Ellen. Yes you're absolutely right about traditional music being alive and well. I suppose what I was driving at was folk rock, or rock folk, or whatever you want to call it, played with this level of musicianship. A lot of traditional enthusiasts profess not to like the addition of rock rythms and electric guitars to traditional playing and, to tell the truth, most of the time I have to agree. None of what I hear at the moment ticks the magic box: Good though some of it is, it is just different. A lot is ok but, in my humble opinion Wolfstone were more than ok, they were and are up there with the greats. Having said that, my recent expeience is limited. I know there are a lot of great musicians around. I was wondering if any of them are doing work that might grab my imagination in the same sort of way. Sorry if I haven't explained myself very well, but I feel that I am trying to catch smoke when I try to pin down what I mean (and it's definitely not a criticism of traditional music played traditionally in the modern way, if you know what I mean). After all , I'm a traditional player myself.
greg bradfield-smith Your comment is well taken, Greg. Amongst Scottish groups the Battlefield Band is very good (though I think not as good as Wolfstone when Roddy McCourt was alive). There also is an excellent group called Boys of the Lough (I think they no longer make music). For me, personally, anything with a hammered dulcimer in it grabs my soul! In the U.S. there was much agitation when old-fashioned country music morphed into country rock (which it still is). Gram Parsons was the guy responsible for that (interesting story about him as well). I don't know where to begin on Irish music, but you might check out my playlist and get some suggestions. . . ;)
+Ellen Hilts-Gossett HiEllen, I will definitely check out you playlist, thanks. My own take is there is plenty of room in this world for both.. It sometimes seems to me that Britiish folk music is morphing into American country rock as well! Doesn't mean it's not good but I like it when it goes other places , like the Albion Bands earlier years and Ashley Hutchings Morris oOn projects
greg bradfield-smith So much to enjoy! I have (in cassette form) music performed for a showing of half the Domesday Book. It's a thousand years old and one of the songs "Lovely Joan" was the tune for Emerson/Lake/Powell's "Touch and Go" a millennium later. (Old tunes + new lyrics = great sounds.) I have Turloch O'Carolan, Camille Saint-Saens and Rondeau on either my playlist or added videos. Plus old R&R and anything that takes my fancy. I will say that the most recent song I care to listen to is Chris Isaak's "Somebody's Crying" -- rather a mournful, mellow country tune.
Gwen Currie I am so sorry to hear that, Gwen. Someone else has told me that he was despondent over breaking up with a girlfriend, and just took his own life after a gig. Such a talent. . .such a waste! So sad!!
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
I used to have a Celtic rock band; Wolfstone was who we wanted to be when we grew up
Fighting Mac Hector MacDonald ,On 7 March 1870 MacDonald joined the Inverness-shire Highland Rifle Volunteers, and in 1871 enlisted in the 92nd Gordon Highlanders at Fort George. He rose rapidly through the noncommissioned ranks, and had already been a Colour Sergeant for some years when his distinguished conduct in the presence of the enemy during the Second Afghan War led to his being offered either a Victoria Cross or a commission in his regiment; he chose the latter.
Am sure all of heaven stopped and the angels too listened in envy at such an exquisite rendition...the violin....God's gift to quell the soul!
Thank you!!! Been looking for this for soooooo long but every time I googled it Google kept giving me the Wolfe Tones instead!
Damn I missed Wolfstone, the soundtrack of my path to adulthood!
Never was there a more beautiful sound than a tearful violin and pipe lamenting lost beauty.
This their best version ever!!! Duncan Chisholm puts so much grace into the first part, then homage tae the pipes!
Will always love this wee tune 💙
Magnifique évasion, de ce monde en folie
"Lament him ye mountains of Rossshire
Your tears be the dew and the rain
Ye forrests and straths let the sobbing winds
Unburden your grief and pain"
This version gives me chills. Perfect blend of instruments, tenderness, passion.
I saw these guys in 1989 in a country tent at a cèilidh in the Highlands near Dingwall, when they were still playing small venues.
There were numerous local bands, and Wolfstone absolutely stole the show.
They were fucking amazing even back when they were "new".
I love the music and I cherish my Scottish friends.
Without a doubt, my favorite tune played by the one and only band that gives this great Scottish lamet it's power. Duncan Chisholm on the fiddle, and the late great Roddy McCourt on the Highland pipe, it brings a tear to me eye every time!
I never could hear them play "Hector the Hero," which itself is a sad enough story, without tearing up. Now I know about McCourt, I cry at will.
Those who want Scottish Independence should use this as their Battle Cry. I'm English and it stirs my blood !
This is serenity to my soul. Thank you ! I want to date the violist. love from Friesland.
Those of us who were at all the Strawberry Festivals at Camp Mather remember well this amazing band. They were outstandingly great. We were lucky to have them grace the stage. Such energy and musicianship is rare. We love you guys! THANKS!
wolfstone in their prime!!! I used this song for our wedding march!!!
I first saw Wolfstone headlining at the Celtic music festival at Wolf Trap. I remember being so impressed with "Bonnie Ship of
Diamonds." They are wonderful and I miss them.
My Scottish mate here, whose sitting with me at the moment, in New Zealand - says it, brought a tear (tears; more than one tear)to, his eyes. Yep.
Just absolutely beautiful. So moving ❤️❤️❤️
I first heard this tune when Duncan Chisholm played it along with some friends during an informal "jamming session" in the Caledonian Hotel "The Caley" Beauly and instantly fell in love with it...Such a movingly haunting piece of music but only found out the name of the lament later.Fantastic and thank you to Wolfstone for this beautiful performance of it..!!!
well done beautiful number,greetings from holland
Thanks for putting up this gig in Aberdeen. Keep coming back to them
as I believe it's Wolfstone at their best. Never got to see them live and this is as good as it gets. Don't they look so young and Roddy....."Fois do t' anam"
Beautiful! Makes me cry❤️❤️❤️
Massed pipes and drums playing "Hector the Hero" are well and good, but this beautiful lament-style rendition is in a category by itself!
Magnifique évasion, dans ce monde de malade
The Best of the Best !!
The definitive version , not much else comes close.
sublime and truly beautiful and moving. To hell with amazing grace, this is the definitive Scottish lament and I feel very proud to be Scottish and to have music such as this as part of my culture and heritage. very noble whereas amazing grace is about a reformed slaver and finding god ( I don't like pious religion)
wowwwww, espectacular......bellisima canción
This is sublime!
absolutely beautiful 👍
Amazing to see the respose in what is ostensibly a rock concert to a great Scottish lament.
Very good!
素晴らしい音楽ですね
Togail an fidhle airson eachan mor nan cath !uabhasach math!
Yes....
If this piece doesn't move you you have nowhere to go
Ivan Drever's era was, by far, the best for Wlofstone.
Amazing Scottish Rock
Superb band and what a line up. Please as many originals, get back together
❤️
Wow, that's such a lovely arrrangement! Here's a fiddle or flute arrangement if anyone would like sheet music or a backing track for this lovely tune:
musescore.com/user/643986/scores/5517663
"Hector the Hero" is a popular fiddle tune, a classic lament composed by the great Scottish composer James Scott Skinner in 1903. It laments the death by coerced suicide of Sir Hector ("Fighting Mac") MacDonald, a popular war hero in Scotland and England, who had been the Commander-in-Chief of British forces in Ceylon. MacDonald was a brilliant military strategist, an accomplished commander, and a polymath -- he spoke Hindustani, Urdu, Pushtu, Arabic, French, and English as well as his native Gaelic. At the time of his death he was the most popular and widely known war hero in Brittain, having been knighted for his service in the Second Boer War.
MacDonald committed suicide in 1903 instead of facing a court martial following accusations of homosexual activity with the local Sinhalese.
The scandal reaffirmed his heroic status among his native Scots, who understood that a similar scandal involving any of the aristocratic English officers would have been hushed up. They understood too that MacDonald was facing charges not so much for his perceived crime, but because as a Scot he had always been an outsider in the British military. Whatever the merit of charges of homosexuality, they were brought by a jealous British officer corps angered by MacDonald's real crime, that of being a low-born Scott who had risin through the ranks on merit alone, and who treated the local Sinhalese as equals.
His funeral in Edinburgh was attended by 30,000 countrymen. Immediately after, the British government destroyed all records of the case against him, declared that there had been no basis for the charges, and declared him a glorious and unparalleled hero.
See the Wikipedia article for a short biography of this amazing hero of Scotland.
Love this tune so haunting love the words anaw ,the Valiant Macdonalds xxx
That will take the dirk out o the thatch and the claymore out o the bog!
Holy shit! The kid on the violin can play! Anyone know the make of his violin?
Duncan Chisolm :)
That's Duncan man, don't you know him? He's the best known fiddle players in Scotland 😂
@@itsablack1 UMMM... no. That's why I asked.
Is the death of Roddy McCourt a state secret? This band had so many fans; did no one take note of his death??
Ellen Hilts-Gossett he comitted suicide by hanging himself in a hotel in Fort William after a gig, think at the time something was said about him just recently splitting with his girlfriend, though I might be wrong about that.
Ian MacIver Oh, Ian, I'm so sorry to hear about that. This band was/is my favorite Scots trad group (I like Battlefield Band, but I prefer Wolfstone). Especially to go that way (hanging oneself) is so very sad. I mourn with you.
Ian MacIver I heard that as well. A girl who went to school with him wrote me and confirmed the hanging. When I watch this video I think it's flat off the mournful sound of a Victorian who rose from being a crofter's son to a major-general in the army. Yet there were suspicions and aspersions cast upon him as to his sexuality and (before he could be court-martialed) he took his own life.
+Ellen Hilts-Gossett Hector MacDonald came from the same area as I come from, There are 2 memorials too him, one just along the road from his family croft and a large one in Mitchell Hill Cemetery overlooking Dingwall.
Can anyone tell me, is there any musicof this quality happening today?
+greg bradfield-smith Yes. Traditional music is live and well around the globe. . .Sleante' my friend.
+Ellen Hilts-Gossett Thanks for replying Ellen. Yes you're absolutely right about traditional music being alive and well. I suppose what I was driving at was folk rock, or rock folk, or whatever you want to call it, played with this level of musicianship. A lot of traditional enthusiasts profess not to like the addition of rock rythms and electric guitars to traditional playing and, to tell the truth, most of the time I have to agree. None of what I hear at the moment ticks the magic box: Good though some of it is, it is just different. A lot is ok but, in my humble opinion Wolfstone were more than ok, they were and are up there with the greats.
Having said that, my recent expeience is limited. I know there are a lot of great musicians around. I was wondering if any of them are doing work that might grab my imagination in the same sort of way.
Sorry if I haven't explained myself very well, but I feel that I am trying to catch smoke when I try to pin down what I mean (and it's definitely not a criticism of traditional music played traditionally in the modern way, if you know what I mean). After all , I'm a traditional player myself.
greg bradfield-smith Your comment is well taken, Greg. Amongst Scottish groups the Battlefield Band is very good (though I think not as good as Wolfstone when Roddy McCourt was alive). There also is an excellent group called Boys of the Lough (I think they no longer make music). For me, personally, anything with a hammered dulcimer in it grabs my soul! In the U.S. there was much agitation when old-fashioned country music morphed into country rock (which it still is). Gram Parsons was the guy responsible for that (interesting story about him as well). I don't know where to begin on Irish music, but you might check out my playlist and get some suggestions. . . ;)
+Ellen Hilts-Gossett HiEllen, I will definitely check out you playlist, thanks.
My own take is there is plenty of room in this world for both.. It sometimes seems to me that Britiish folk music is morphing into American country rock as well! Doesn't mean it's not good but I like it when it goes other places , like the Albion Bands earlier years and Ashley Hutchings Morris oOn projects
greg bradfield-smith So much to enjoy! I have (in cassette form) music performed for a showing of half the Domesday Book. It's a thousand years old and one of the songs "Lovely Joan" was the tune for Emerson/Lake/Powell's "Touch and Go" a millennium later. (Old tunes + new lyrics = great sounds.) I have Turloch O'Carolan, Camille Saint-Saens and Rondeau on either my playlist or added videos. Plus old R&R and anything that takes my fancy. I will say that the most recent song I care to listen to is Chris Isaak's "Somebody's Crying" -- rather a mournful, mellow country tune.
Does anyone know what happened to Roddy McCourt??
Ellen Hilts-Gossett Roddy hung himself...am an old school friend
Gwen Currie I am so sorry to hear that, Gwen. Someone else has told me that he was despondent over breaking up with a girlfriend, and just took his own life after a gig. Such a talent. . .such a waste! So sad!!
It gars me greet.
awa in bile yer heid ye glesga minker
Glaswegian and proud 2nd to none 💪🏴❤️✌️
Surprised the lament a Brit hero
ALBA GU BRATH