Jessie MacLachlan
{{Short description|Scottish Gaelic soprano (1866–1916)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024|cs1-dates=ll}}
{{Use Scottish English|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Jessie MacLachlan
| image = JessieMacLachlanpostcard.png
| alt = A white woman with dark hair, in a bouffant updo, wearing an off-the-shoulder gown embellished with sequins.
| caption = Jessie MacLachlan, from a postcard published in Australia, circa 1900; from the National Library of Australia
| other_names = Seònaid NicLachlainn (Gaelic)
| birth_date = 18 June 1866
| birth_place = Oban, Scotland
| death_date = 13 May 1916
| death_place = Glasgow, Scotland
| nationality = British
| occupation = Singer
}}
Jessie Niven MacLachlan (Scottish Gaelic: {{lang|gd|Seònaid NicLachlainn|italic=unset}}) (18 June 1866 – 13 May 1916) was a Scottish Gaelic soprano.
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.{{Cite book |last1=Ewan |first1=Elizabeth L. |last2=Innes |first2=Sue |last3=Reynolds |first3=Sian |last4=Pipes |first4=Rose |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Zs6qBgAAQBAJ&dq=Jessie+MacLachlan&pg=PA233 |title=Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women |date=27 June 2007 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=978-0-7486-2660-1 |pages=233}}
Career
MacLachlan achieved fame as a stage singer of Gaelic song.{{Cite book |last=Maloney |first=Paul |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=hn1kuc21R8cC&q=MacLachlan |title=Scotland and the Music Hall, 1850-1914 |date=13 September 2003 |publisher=Manchester University Press |isbn=978-0-7190-6147-9 |pages=174}} She performed for Queen Victoria, at Balmoral Castle in 1892.{{Cite journal |date=June 1919 |title=British |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=A-ARAAAAYAAJ&dq=Jessie+MacLachlan&pg=PA104 |journal=The Caledonian |volume=19 |pages=104}} She toured extensively. She shared a bill with singer Harry Lauder and violinist Mackenzie Murdoch on a Scottish tour.{{Cite book |last=Lauder |first=Harry |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=NQ_GDwAAQBAJ&dq=Jessie+MacLachlan&pg=PT32 |title=Between You and Me |date=19 December 2019 |publisher=Good Press}} She toured in North America in 1901;[https://books.google.com/books?id=2Kc_AQAAMAAJ&pg=RA7-PR3 "Plays and Players"] Navy & Army Illustrated (21 November 1903): iii. while in Canada, she sang with a teenaged Henry Burr, at the Opera House in Saint John.{{Cite web |url= https://www.cshf.ca/songwriter/henry-burr/ |title=Henry Burr – Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame Inductee |website=Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame |access-date=19 March 2020}} 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.{{Cite journal |date=12 July 1902 |title=Miss Jessie MacLachlan |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=uXTnSQZeWVoC&dq=Jessie+MacLachlan&pg=RA2-PA796 |journal=The King of Illustrated Papers |volume=6 |pages=796}} In 1905 she sang at a Burns Monument Fund benefit concert in Boston.{{Cite journal |date=23 February 1905 |title=Burns Monument Fund |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=6elJAQAAMAAJ&dq=Jessie+MacLachlan+soprano&pg=PA123 |journal=The Inter-Nation |pages=123}} She performed in New Zealand in 1905 and again in 1907.{{cite news |url= http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=MS19051121.2.2.3 |title=Special Farewell Concert To-night! |date=21 November 1905 |work=Manawatu Standard |page=1 |accessdate=1 December 2011}}{{Cite news |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/OAM19070726.2.36 |title=Jessie MacLachlan, the Scottish Queen of Song |date=26 July 1907 |work=Oamaru Mail |access-date=19 March 2020 |page=4 |via=Papers Past}}
During her North American tour, MacLachlan was celebrated in newspapers and helped to increase the popularity of Gaelic song there.[https://web.archive.org/web/20070824060739/http://www.saorsamedia.com/library/lifeincity.php Life in the City] "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.{{Cite news |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/FS19070902.2.9 |title=Miss Jessie MacLachlan, The Distinguished Scottish Soprano |date=2 September 1907 |work=The Feilding Star |access-date=19 March 2020 |page=2 |via=Papers Past}}
In September 1899, MacLachlan made the first commercial gramophone recordings of Gaelic song, performing "{{lang|gd|Oro Mo Nighean Donn Bhòidheach|italic=unset}}" ('Ho-ro my Beautiful Brown Maiden') and "{{lang|gd|Mo Dhachaigh|italic=unset}}" ('My Home') to piano accompaniment.http://www.csis.ul.ie/naaclt2000/final_proceedings.htm. (Nilsen, K. Living Celtic Speech: Celtic Sound Archives in North America){{cite web |url= https://gaelic.education/sgeulachd-seonaid-niclachlainn |title=Sgeulachd Seònaid NicLachlainn |language=gd |trans-title=The story of Jessie MacLachlan |work=Gaelic.education |publisher=Stòrlann Nàiseanta na Gàidhlig |date=2022 |access-date=22 June 2024}} She made further recordings in England in 1903.{{Cite book |last1=Hoffmann |first1=Frank |last2=Cooper |first2=B. Lee |last3=Gracyk |first3=Tim |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=q4mXh7krTxkC&dq=Jessie+MacLachlan+soprano&pg=PA53 |title=Popular American Recording Pioneers: 1895-1925 |date=12 November 2012 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-59229-4 |pages=53}}
In October 2024, it was announced there would be a tribute to MacLachlan at the Royal National Mòd in November 2024.{{Cite web |date=2024-09-26 |title=Remembering Oban's Gaelic global singing superstar |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2kj7p9nn9o |access-date=2024-10-04 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}}
Personal life
File:Jessie Niven MacLachlan headstone 02.jpg
Jessie MacLachlan married her accompanist, Robert Buchanan, in 1887. They had a son. She died in Glasgow in 1916 at the age of 49, shortly after making a "hazardous journey" from France during World War I. Her grave is located in Cathcart Cemetery.{{Cite book |last=Tait |first=Derek |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=JV8qDQAAQBAJ&dq=Jessie+MacLachlan&pg=PT92 |title=Glasgow in the Great War |date=30 August 2016 |publisher=Pen and Sword |isbn=978-1-4738-7316-2}}
References
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Category:Scottish Gaelic singers
Category:People from the Isle of Mull
External links
- [https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-145780106/view A postcard photograph of Jessie MacLachlan], from the National Library of Australia.
- [http://images.ourontario.ca/stmarys/46651/data An autographed souvenir photograph of Jessie MacLachlan], from the St Marys Museum photo collection.
- [http://levyarchive.bam.org/Detail/entities/9598 Jessie MacLachlan] in the British Academy of Music (BAM) Archives.
- [https://gaelic.education/sgeulachd-seonaid-niclachlainn Sgeulachd Seònaid NicLachlainn] Scottish Gaelic educational page about Jessie MacLachlan with audio and resources for schools
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