quote:

The Rev. Patrick MacDonald, minister of the parish of Kilmore, and a native of Sutherland, made a collection of 186 vocal melodies of the Highlands, in the latter end of the 18th century. [...] [D]uring the century throughout which MacDonald's airs have been before the public, no attempt has, apparently, been made to find the words of the songs and adapt them to the music. During the last few years, however, Mr. Henry Whyte and I have succeeded in bringing together a number of songs and airs recorded in MacDonald's book.

MacDonald was a fiddler, and, very likely after having learned to play the melodies which he wanted, he recorded them as he remembered them....
Among the melodies are given eight Ossianic ballad airs, and these I have been trying for some time back to fit to their respective words. When I first attempted the work I gave it up in despair. My difficulty was to find where the lines began and ended. There is not much melody in any of the airs, and the cadences are consequently not well marked.
(to be continued)

from The Celtic Review, Volume I, no. 1, July 1904 (published quarterly), Edinburgh. Article on pages 36 - 47, written by Malcolm MacFarlane.