UNIT 5
LET'S GO TO PLAY ___________________________________________________________________________________________

LESSON TWO

Massacre of Glencoe Teachers' guide
by Jim McLean

This song was written by Jim McLean, a Scottish musician, in 1963 and it tells the sad story of a cruel slaughter that occurred in Glencoe in 1692 on the Highland home of the MacDonald clan. The massacre stands out in Highland history because of the betrayal of MacDonald's hospitality.

Activity 1

Go to Unit 2 and try to place Glencoe and Fort William on the map.

Activity 2

Read the lyrics of the song and translate it into your own language. Compare with your partner.

 

The Massacre of Glencoe Chorus: O, cruel is the snow that sweeps Glencoe And covers the grave o' Donald O, cruel was the foe that raped Glencoe And murdered the house of MacDonald 1. They came in a blizzard, we offered them heat A roof for their heads, dry shoes for their feet We wined them and dined them, they ate of our meat And they slept in the house of MacDonald. Chorus: 2. They came from Fort William with murder in mind The Campbell had orders King William had signed "Put all to the sword" these words underlined "And leave none alive called MacDonald" Chorus: 3. They came in the night when the men were asleep This band of Argyles, through snow soft and deep Like murdering foxes amongst helpless sheep They slaughtered the house of MacDonald Chorus: 4. Some died in their beds at the hand of the foe Some fled in the night and were lost in the snow Some lived to accuse him who struck the first blow But gone was the house of MacDonald Chorus:

 

TRANSLATION

VERSE 1 _________________________________________________________
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CHORUS _________________________________________________________
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VERSE 2 _________________________________________________________
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VERSE 3 _________________________________________________________
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VERSE 4 _________________________________________________________
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Activity 3

Listen to the song as you follow the words. In pairs, answer these questions below :

a. How many musical accents are there in each sentence?

2

4

6

b. What is the time signature of the song?

2/4

3/4

4/4

c. How many bars are there in each sentence?

2

4

6

d. Do you think the numbers of bars in a piece of music and its musical accents have any relation?
Why?_____________________________________________________________
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Here you have some words that they might help you to answer the question. There are two ways or two sentences you can make.

marquen/et diuen	depenen	accents	peça musical	el començament	compàs	cada	perquè
mark/show you	depend on	accents	piece of music	the beggining	bar	each	because

f . What instrument can you hear?

bagpipe

piano

guitar

g. Is there only one singer or more than one? _____________________________
h . Do they sing monophonically or polyphonically?___________________________

Monophonically _____________

Polyphonically ___________ ___________

 

Activity 4

Underline each accented syllable. The four first accented syllables are done for you. They are in bold.

The Massacre of Glencoe Chorus: O, cruel is the snow that sweeps Glencoe And covers the grave o' Donald O, cruel was the foe that raped Glencoe And murdered the house of MacDonald 1. They came in a blizzard, we offered them heat A roof for their heads, dry shoes for their feet We wined them and dined them, they ate of our meat And they slept in the house of MacDonald. 2. They came from Fort William with murder in mind The Campbell had orders King William had signed "Put all to the sword" these words underlined "And leave none alive called MacDonald" 3. They came in the night when the men were asleep This band of Argyles, through snow soft and deep Like murdering foxes amongst helpless sheep They slaughtered the house of MacDonald 4. Some died in their beds at the hand of the foe Some fled in the night and were lost in the snow Some lived to accuse him who struck the first blow But gone was the house of MacDonald

Now, listen to the song again and place the correct chord in every underlined syllable. These are the chords used in this song:

chorus: G G C G,  G G D D G G C G,  C D G G

verse: G D G G,  D D G D G D G e,  C D G G

 

Let's go to play this song

Activity 5

Write the words you are able to remember with no help.

 

Music words	Translation		Non music words	Translation