The Famous Faces of Clan Macpherson

We’re starting off big, here, with my absolute favourite Macpherson! James, better known as Jamie, and his legacy are rather infamous. He was from 17th century Aberdeenshire and came into the spotlight as a robber…not typically something robbers like to come to, is it? In any case, Jamie Macpherson was also a great composer of fiddle tunes and this is where his story gets really good (for us, anyway). As you might’ve guessed, he was eventually caught and faced the *gulp* gallows. It is said that just before he met his death, he composed and performed “Macpherson’s Lament”, also sometimes called “Macpherson’s Rant”. When he offered his fiddle to any member of the Macpherson clan who would play it in his honour during his wake and no one volunteered, he transformed into what I’ve dubbed as ‘The Scottish Hulk’ and broke his fiddle in a rage.

As he threw his broken fiddle at his clansmen, he is said to have shouted, “No one else shall play Jamie Macpherson’s fiddle!” Now, we know this sounds slightly far-fetched, but you can actually see the historical (and still broken) fiddle on view at the Clan Macpherson Museum near Newtonmore, Inverness-shire. Definitely on the top of my list of incredible Macpherson spots to visit!

This next MacPherson is Aimee Semple McPherson, born in 1890, but famous primarily during the 1920’s and 30’s. Slight variation on the spelling of the name, but a Macpherson all the same. She was better known as Sister Aimee, or even just Sister, and she was a Canadian-American Pentecostal evangelist. Her evangelism led to her becoming a media celebrity, a bit like the televangelists of today. She’s most famous for founding the Four Square Church, which now has eight million followers and 60,000 churches in 144 countries! So, how did she become so famous, you ask? It was her very theatrical healing demonstrations that helped her garner attention. But, she later broadcast her powerful teachings of the gospel via the radio. What’s more, she also disappeared for five whole weeks and afterward, claimed she was kidnapped. An unsolved mystery, indeed….

Ewen is definitely one of the most significant Macpherson’s in all of history and for good reason, we say! He was actually the chief of Clan Macpherson during the Jacobite Uprising of 1745…we’re sure you can see where this is going. Let’s see if you can guess which side he’s on? So, he was sometimes known as just Cluny Macpherson and we definitely imagine a rather likable chief. The Macpherson’s had been Jacobites during the earlier rebellion of 1715, so it was assumed that they would be again. Despite an offering from the government giving Cluny command of an independent company in Lord Loudon's regiment, the Macpherson’s loyalty to Charles Edward Stuart won out. It is thought that he, instead, raised about 400 men in support of the Bonnie Prince, fighting both at Prestonpans and the Skirmish of Clifton Moor. Afterward the Battle of Culloden he went into hiding and spent nine months hiding in secret places, now known as Cluny’s Cave and Cluny’s Cage, before ultimately escaping to France. Well, as his father in law, Lord Lovat, is claimed to have said, Cluny was "a thorrow good natur'd, even temper'd, honest gentleman.” And that’s all we have to say about that!

Donald Macpherson BEM was one of the most impressive and awarded competitive solo bagpipers not just of the 20th century, but of all time! Turns out, his incredible piping skills ran in the family. Donald was born in 1922 in Glasgow and was first taught by his father Iain, who was an army piper during WWI. At 12, joined the Boys' Brigade pipe band, but he would soon go on to much more impressive feats. His career as a competitive piper began quite early, but he was an immediate success. At just 15, he entered his first solo competition at the famed Cowal Highland Gathering, where he won both the Under 15 March, Strathspey and Reel and the Under 18 Piobaireachd. Throughout the course of his competitive career, he earned fifteen first places in the Senior Piobaireachd event for former Gold Medal winners at Oban, nine first places in the Clasp competition at Inverness, and six first places in the Former Winners March, Strathspey & Reel event at Inverness. Phew – that’s a lot! We’ll be scoping out the next Donald Macpherson at all future Highland Games.

Last but not least, we have Gus (whose correct first name is actually Angus, by the way) is a former Scottish football player and coach – you didn’t think we’d end a famous faces without including an incredible Scottish athlete, did you? While his playing career included teams like the Youth Rangers, Kilmarnock, and St Mirren, he’s perhaps more well known for his management career. While he began at St Mirren as a player, he transitioned to a player-manager and eventually took on the role of manager full time. Since then, he has managed Queen of the South and Queen's Park who he guided to promotion in 2016. In recent years, he returned to St Mirren in an advisory role. In 2020, he officially left St Mirren and then briefly acted as manager of Greenock Morton.