‘Land of Heart’s Desire’ – Marjory Kennedy-Fraser (1857–1930) and the Songs of the Hebrides
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31265/0r0etb10Keywords:
Gaelic songs, Songs of the Hebrides, Celtic Revival, Art songs, Folksong collectingAbstract
Marjory Kennedy-Fraser (1857–1930), daughter of famous Scots tenor David Kennedy, was a Scottish pianist, music teacher, suffragette, and collector of Gaelic songs. She toured the world as her father’s accompanist, studied singing in Milan and Paris, and read music at the University of Edinburgh. Widowed with two children to support, she taught piano and singing in Edinburgh, becoming part of the city’s avant-garde Celtic Revival circles. After visiting Eriskay in 1905, she collected, arranged, and published the Songs of the Hebrides, in collaboration with Gaelic editor Kenneth Macleod. With English composer Granville Bantock, she created The Seal Woman: A Celtic Folk Opera, premiered in Birmingham in 1924. Maligned after her death for exploiting and misinterpreting Gaelic culture, her oeuvre vanished from recital programmes, but her consummate art song versions of Gaelic traditional songs would merit their place in the standard art song repertoire, giving presence to both Gaelic Scotland among the Late-Romantic voices from all corners of Europe and a remarkable Scotswoman among British composers.
References
Alexander, E. (2016, 9. December). Kate Moss' music-video cameos: A comprehensive timeline. Harper's BAZAAR. https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/fashion/news/a38891/kate-moss-music-videos/
Allen, Z. (2023, 11. January). SZA Releases Music Video For 'Kill Bill.' WBLS. https://www.wbls.com/news/sza-releases-music-video-for-killbill/
Amable, J. (2021, 30. January). The Murder Ballad was the Original True Crime Podcast. Jstore Daily. https://daily.jstor.org/the-murderballad-was-the-original-true-crime-podcast/
Atkinson, D. (1999). Magical corpses: Ballads, intertextuality, and the discovery of murder. Journal of Folklore Research, 36(1), 1-29.
Bayard, S. P. (1955). Decline and 'revival' of Anglo-American folk music. Midwest Folklore, 5(2), 69-77.
BBC News. (2023, 1. February). Tom Jones: Delilah banned for choirs at Principality Stadium. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/ukwales-64488231
Bennett, T. (2024, 18. March). The History of 'The Hanging Tree' Song in The Hunger Games Saga. SYFY. https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/the-history-of-the-hanging-tree-song-in-the-hunger-games-saga
Berlatsky, N. (2018, 20. March). Hurray for the Riff Raff Makes Feminist Murder Ballads for Today's America. VICE. https://www.vice.com/en/article/hurray-for-the-riff-raff-emerge-festival-interview-2018-feminist-america/
Bigger, K. (2015, 5. January). Are Murder Ballads Part of the Problem? Sing Out! https://singout.org/whole-world-sings/
Blackman, P. (2014, 18. January). Little Sadie - Old Time, Bluegrass, and Beyond - Sing Out! Sing Out! https://singout.org/little-sadie-oldtime-bluegrass-and-beyond/
Chambers, S. J. (2009, 2. October). Living Poe Girl, Part I: Objects of Desire. Reactor. https://reactormag.com/living-poe-girl-part-i-objects-of-desire/
Clark, S. (2002). The broadside ballad and the woman's voice. In Debating Gender in Early Modern England, 1500-1700 (pp. 103-120). Palgrave Macmillan US. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230107540_6
Cohen, N. (2000). Long Steel Rail. University of Illinois Press.
Daub, A. (2023). What the ballad knows. Oxford University Press.
https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190885496.001.0001
Delia's Gone. (2023, 9. April). Majuscule. https://majusculelit.com/delias-gone/
Donalson, R. (2020). The Good, the Bad, and the Deadly: Gendered Moral Teachings in American Murder Ballads [Arizona State University]. https://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.I.56511
Duggan, L. (2023). A woman's tradition? Quantifying gender difference in the Child ballads. Orbis Litterarum. https://doi.org/10.1111/oli.12400
Eaton, Q. (2024, 24. October). 'Delia's Gone' Is The Spookiest Song Of Johnny Cash's Catalogue. Whiskey Riff. https://www.whiskeyriff.com/2024/10/24/delias-gone-is-the-spookiest-song-of-johnny-cashs-catalogue/
Friedman, A. B. (2024). Ballad. In Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/art/ballad
Fulford, T. (2006). Fallen ladies and cruel mothers: Ballad singers and ballad heroines in the eighteenth century. The Eighteenth Century, 47(2/3), 309-329. https://doi.org/10.1353/ecy.2007.0025
Gammon, V. (2000). Child death in British and North American ballads from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries. In Representations of Childhood Death (pp. 29-51). Palgrave Macmillan UK.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-62340-2_3
Garcia, A. (2017, 4. April). Alynda Segarra of Hurray for the Riff Raff on Navigating Identity and Exploring Her Puerto Rican Roots. Bandcamp Daily. https://daily.bandcamp.com/features/alynda-segarra-hurray-for-the-riff-raff-interview
Goeres, K. (2021, 25. March). Dolly Parton's Connection to Her Song, 'The Bridge': "I"ve Had Suicide in My Own Family'. Showbiz Cheat Sheet. https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/dolly-parton-connection-song-the-bridge-suicide.html/
Groom, N. (2013). '"Executioner-Style": Nick Cave and the Murder Ballad Tradition.' The Art of Nick Cave: New Critical Essays. John. Bristol: Intellect.
Hamessley, L. (2005). A resisting performance of an Appalachian traditional murder ballad: giving voice to 'Pretty Polly.' Women & Music, 9(13). https://doi.org/10.1353/wam.2005.0008
Hastie, C. R. (2011). 'This Murder Done': Misogyny, Femicide, and Modernity in 19th-Century Appalachian Murder Ballads [University of Tennessee, Knoxville]. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/1045
Hastings, C. (2008). From poem to performance: Brahms's 'Edward' ballade, op. 10, no. 1. The College Music Symposium, 48, 83-97.
Hopper, A. (2023, 7. February). The Revengeful Meaning Behind SZA's 'Kill Bill' - American Songwriter. American Songwriter. https://americansongwriter.com/behind-the-meaning-of-szas-kill-bill/
Hopper, D. (2020, 27. October). Author explores history behind Nick Cave's 'Murder Ballads.' 360˚ Sound. https://360degreesound.com/author-explores-history-behind-nick-caves-murder-ballads/
Jimenez, Xia, 'Killing Me Softly: Music's Obsession with Murder Ballads', 7 November 2020 <https://berkeleybside.com/killing-me-softly-musics-obsession-with-murder-ballads/>, [accessed 24 January 2025]
Juntunen, M.-L., Arlin, E. P. & Liira, K. (2023). Expression in popular music singing as embodied and interpersonal. Frontiers in Education, 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2023.1092736
Juslin, P. N. & Laukka, P. (2004). Expression, perception, and induction of musical emotions: A review and a questionnaire study of everyday listening. Journal of New Music Research, 33(3), 217-238. https://doi.org/10.1080/0929821042000317813
Kane, S. A. (1996). Wives with knives: Early modern murder ballads and the transgressive commodity. Criticism, 38(2), 2.
Kobel, M. (2020). 'Just a man singing': Scott Walker and the voice of another. Journal for Cultural Research, 24(3), 236-251.
https://doi.org/10.1080/14797585.2020.1806439
Lewis, R. (2000, 1. April). 'Earl' creates heat--and heated debate. The Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-apr-01-ca-14748-story.html
Lynskey, D. (2020, 30. November). When Dolly was dark: How Dolly Parton went from bard of death and cruelty to avatar of goodness. Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2020-11-30/dolly-parton songteller-lyrics
Martens, E. (2013). The representation of women in the works of Edgar Allan Poe. https://libstore.ugent.be/fulltxt/RUG01/002/060/296/RUG01-002060296_2013_0001_AC.pdf
Martin, A. (2014, 2. December). Jennifer Lawrence song 'The Hanging Tree' reaches Top 20 charts - UPI.com. https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/Music/2014/12/02/Jennifer-Lawrences-The-Hanging-Tree-reaches-Top-20-charts/4441417533566/
Martin, A. (2023, 1. February). Bye, bye, bye Delilah: Wales rugby choirs banned from singing Tom Jones hit. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/feb/01/delilah-welsh-rugby-union-choirs-banned-from-singing-tom-jones-hit
McNally, D. (2019, 3. May). Our Native Daughters: Songs Of Our Native Daughters. KLOF Mag. https://klofmag.com/2019/05/our-nativedaughters-songs-of-our-native-daughters/
Mehring, Frank, '"Blood-Thirsty Blues": The Sonic Politics of American Murder Ballads', in Crime and Music (Springer International Publishing, 2021), pp. 87-100. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49878-8_6
Mendez, M., II. (2023, 17. November). The Meaning Behind 'The Hanging Tree' Song in The Hunger Games Prequel. Time. https://time.com/6336331/hunger-games-hanging-tree-song-prequel/
Nebeker, E. (2011). The Broadside Ballad and Textual Publics. Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, 51(1), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1353/sel.2011.0004
Newman, D. (2017). Murder ballads: Nick Cave and his approach to killing in song. Musicology Australia, 39(2), 96-115.
https://doi.org/10.1080/08145857.2017.1393149
Newman, D. (2020). Murder ballads and death in song. Australian Feminist Law Journal, 46(1), 17-38. https://doi.org/10.1080/13200968.2019.1810894
Oliaee, S. & Abumrad, J. (n.d.). Sad ass songs. WNYC Studios. Retrieved February 3, 2025, https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/dolly-partons-america/episodes/sad-ass-songs
Peterson, R. A. (1997). Creating Country Music: Fabricating authenticity. University of Chicago Press.
https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226111445.001.0001
Porter, J. (1980). Principles of ballad classification: A suggestion for regional catalogues of ballad style. Jahrbuch für Volksliedforschung, 25, 11. https://doi.org/10.2307/849053
Powers, A. (2014, 11. December). The Political Folk Song Of The Year. NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2014/12/11/370125443/the-political-folk-song-of-the-year
Pretty Girls Make Graves - Beautiful Corpses in Art: Part I. (2020, 25. October). Byron's Muse. https://byronsmuse.wordpress.com/2020/10/25/pretty-girls-make-graves-beautiful-corpses-in-art-part-i/
Records, B. (2024, 29. January). Unpacking SZA's 'Kill Bill' Meaning: A Tale of Reclaiming Power. Stay Free. https://www.stayfreeradioip.com/post/sza-kill-bill-meaning
Reibenwein, M. (2021, 27. September). Mordprozess: Kamera filmte Nadines Leiden mit. kurier.at. https://kurier.at/chronik/wien/mordprozess-kamera-filmte-nadines-leiden-mit/401748849
Rock, V. (2022, 26. April). Soundtrack Of My Life - Sarah Vista. Vintage Rock. https://www.vintagerockmag.com/2022/04/soundtrack-ofmy-life-sarah-vista/
Rolling Stone. (2024, 16. February). The 500 greatest songs of All Time. Rolling Stone. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-songs-of-all-time-1224767/the-animals-house-of-the-rising-sun-1224866/
Sams, E. (n.d.). Ballad. The 19th century art form. In The New Grove (p. 75ff). Retrieved February 9, 2025, from https://ericsams.org/index.php/on-music/articles-work-lists/867-ballad-the-19th-century-art-form
Sasaguay, C. (2023, 2. December). 'Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes' reveals 'the hanging tree' song's origins. Collider. https://collider.com/ballad-of-songbirds-and-snakes-hanging-tree-song/
Sawyer, B. J. (2021, 15. January). 'Goodbye Earl': The Story Behind The Chicks' Controversial Hit. Wide Open Country. https://www.wideopencountry.com/goodbye-earl-story-behind-song/
Schemmer, C. (2020, 17. March). The History of Murder Ballads and the Women Who Flipped the Script. She Shreds Media. https://sheshreds.com/the-history-of-murder-ballads/
Scott, J. (2020, 9. March). Behind The Song: Dixie Chicks, 'Goodbye Earl.' American Songwriter. https://americansongwriter.com/dixiechicks-goodbye-earl-behind-the-song/
Sizer, L. & Dadlez, E. M. (2024). Why, Delilah? When music and lyrics move us in different directions. Philosophical Studies, 181(8), 1789-1811. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11098-023-02074-7
Skeaping, L. (2005). Broadside Ballads: Songs from the Streets, Taverns, Theatres and Countryside of 17th Century England.
Slade, P. (n.d.). Pearl Bryan. Retrieved February 3, 2025, from https://www.planetslade.com/pearl-bryan.html
Smith, C. E. (2021, 21. July). What We Lose When We Ignore the Real Roots of Murder Ballads. Esquire. https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/music/a37078255/history-of-murder-ballads-stagger-lee-true-story/
Smurthwaite, E. (2000, 13. April). Country stations say 'Goodbye' to song about murder. BYU Daily Universe. https://universe.byu.edu/2000/04/13/country-stations-say-goodbye-to-song-about-murder/
Streissguth, M. (2006). Johnny Cash: the biography. Cambridge.
Trenery, G. R. (1915). Ballad collections of the eighteenth century. The Modern Language Review, 10(3), 283. https://doi.org/10.2307/3712620
Willis, S. (2019, 29. March). 'Songs Of Our Native Daughters' Gives Ancestors Voice. DownBeat Magazine. https://downbeat.com/news/detail/songs-of-our-native-daughters-gives-ancestors-voice
Wiltenburg, J. (2004). True crime: The origins of modern sensationalism. The American Historical Review, 109(5), 1377-1404.
https://doi.org/10.1086/ahr/109.5.1377
Wollen, A. (2024, 12. May). The Philosophy of Murder Ballads. Going Awol. https://wollenblog.substack.com/p/the-philosophy-of-murder-ballads
Wollstadt, L. (2002). Controlling women: 'Reading gender in the ballads Scottish women sang.' Western Folklore, 61(3/4), 295.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Per Ahlander
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.