Rev. David MacPherson, Northamptonshire, England
1. What is your object and how did it come to be in your possession?
The object I have chosen is an essay written by my uncle, Cecil Alexander
MacPherson, whom I never met, written in about 1916, whilst he was still at
school, and describes a visit he made to the Isle of Skye, in about 1908, with his
father Alexander, to his grandfather, and therefore my great grandfather, Neil
MacPherson. Alexander died from TB in 1910, at the age of 40, and from what
Cecil Alexander said in his essay, 1908 seems to be around the right date for
the visit.
The essay was given to me by my cousin, Ian MacPherson, Cecil Alexander’s
son, about 18 years ago. Ian died in 2013 but I am still in touch with his sister,
Marjorie, with whom I had a long conversation about including her father’s
essay in the exhibition.
Thanks to the inefficiency of my filing system the original can’t be found, and I
do appreciate that reading the rather poor photo copy might prove difficult.
2. Why have you chosen this object for the Macphersoniana project?
I chose it because it exemplifies the life of an ordinary MacPherson in the early
20 th century, together with the spirit of co-operation and community which
existed within poorer areas of the Highlands and Islands at that time. And it
gives insights into the life of an ordinary crofter at the beginning of the 20 th
century, written, not by an anthropologist, but by a young man who was
intimately involved in the day to day life of his grandfather.
3. Why is this object important to you and what does it mean to you?
The object is important to me because it made me appreciate the importance
of my Scottish heritage, and I feel that it brought me much closer to my great
grandfather Neil, who was a well known gaelic bard, whom Alec describes in
his essay in the following words:
We were met by my aged grandfather, a tall stately old man, still unbent,
despite his 70 odd years:
Age sits with decent grace upon his visage,
And worthily becomes his silver locks,
He wears the marks of years well spent,
Of virtue, truth well tried, and wise experience.
I don’t know whether or not the poem was Alec’s or a quotation. I like to think
it was Cecil Alexander’s because my cousin Marjorie tells me that he did write
poetry.
I like to think that my own love of poetry and literature was derived from
Grandfather Neil, and I feel that the following lines from John Clare’s poem The
Cottager might sum up Neil’s life:
Life gave him comfort but denied him wealth,
He toiled in quiet and enjoyed good health.
Neil died in 1924 at the age of 87.
4. What does this object tell us about what it means to be a Macpherson?
In the words of Cecil Alexander himself, his journey made him appreciate that
even though he was born in England he was, at heart, Scottish. I don’t mean
that in a tribalistic sense, but as an acknowledgement of his Scottish heritage;
and I think that’s what it means to be a MacPherson, it’s not a matter of where
you are born or where you live, but a sense of sharing in a common heritage.
Macphersoniana 