# Loreena Mckennitts The Highwayman **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 25, 2017, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loreena-mckennitts-the-highwayman/787406 "2017-05-25T08:16:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loreena-mckennitts-the-highwayman/787406/1 "2017-05-25T08:16:19Z")
The Highwayman [Loreena McKennitt The Highwayman - Google Search](https://g.co/kgs/vSI1RM) A very moving song that asks us to sympathize with a highway robber over English overlords. Is this a traditional Irish song and how rooted in reality is it? If nothing else it is a beautiful song. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loreena-mckennitts-the-highwayman/787406/2 "2017-05-25T08:26:17Z")
[![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvKBPr71dhA) A better link ---
**Author:** ![tavalla](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tavalla/32/89_2.png) [@tavalla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tavalla)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loreena-mckennitts-the-highwayman/787406/3 "2017-05-25T10:29:07Z")
It’s right there in the credits on your first video: the lyrics are from a poem by Alfred Noyes ([The Highwayman (poem) - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Highwayman_(poem)) ) and McKennitt wrote the music. The poem is from 1906, not based on a real incident or anything. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loreena-mckennitts-the-highwayman/787406/4 "2017-05-25T10:39:10Z")
Tangentially related, Fleetwood Mac’s music video for their song [Everywhere](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmyDosjjP5U) tells the same story. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loreena-mckennitts-the-highwayman/787406/5 "2017-05-25T10:54:29Z")
Thank you…i was a bit buzzed. I love McKinnetts music. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loreena-mckennitts-the-highwayman/787406/6 "2017-05-25T11:44:28Z")
as the Wikipedia write-up indicates, this used to be a noted poem for readings. Nowadays, poetry reading and recitation has fallen from public favor and even in the schools. Unless the poem is reborn as a song (as in this case), it gets most exposure through parody, like those otherwise forgotten childhood poems in _Alice in Wonderland_ that Lewis Carroll poked fun at. I have to admit that I know most of these “classic” poems of yore through parodies on Bullwinkle’s Corner and Mad Magazine. In this case, “The Modern Highwayman” from Mad #95 in 1965, with illustrations by Don Martin. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to take this poem (or song) seriously, now that I’ve seen it with Martin’s big-nosed and flop-footed characters. (Not to mentioned updated, with the Highwayman riding a motorcycle) ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loreena-mckennitts-the-highwayman/787406/7 "2017-05-25T12:10:34Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > (Not to mentioned updated, with the Highwayman riding a motorcycle) Complete with a “poot!” from it as he rides off. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loreena-mckennitts-the-highwayman/787406/8 "2017-05-25T13:16:37Z")
“The Lady of Shallot” is a masterpiece of word and music. [https://youtu.be/k0rVNQw1DQM](https://youtu.be/k0rVNQw1DQM) ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loreena-mckennitts-the-highwayman/787406/9 "2017-05-25T14:07:14Z")
I love her music, too 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loreena-mckennitts-the-highwayman/787406/10 "2017-05-25T14:19:49Z")
We read The Highwayman on Halloween when I was in fifth grade. Loved it then, love it now. ---
**Author:** ![JcWoman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jcwoman/32/2889_2.png) [@JcWoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JcWoman)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loreena-mckennitts-the-highwayman/787406/11 "2017-05-25T14:20:41Z")
The Highwayman was one of the poems we were required to read/study in high school. I love Lorena too, she’s very talented. When I heard this song, I marvelled at how she used the poem’s natural rhythm and cadence. The poem, even recited without music, is very musical. Her treatment of it is gorgeous. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loreena-mckennitts-the-highwayman/787406/12 "2017-05-25T14:27:46Z")
> [@K364](#): > > “The Lady of Shallot” is a masterpiece of word and music. > [https://youtu.be/k0rVNQw1DQM](https://youtu.be/k0rVNQw1DQM) Brilliant! Thanks for posting. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loreena-mckennitts-the-highwayman/787406/13 "2017-05-25T14:39:13Z")
I’m a fan of hers - a really haunting voice. If you’d like a taste of one of her original pieces that’s not based on a poem, I recommend _Dante’s Prayer_. A really beautiful song that never fails to get me a little verklempt. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDw3CyOmj20) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loreena-mckennitts-the-highwayman/787406/14 "2017-05-25T14:52:39Z")
I’ve always loved [Phil Ochs’ version of The Highwayman.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hX1o1yLIvak) ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loreena-mckennitts-the-highwayman/787406/15 "2017-05-25T15:50:04Z")
McKennitt’s version of the Highwayman is very moving, but I’m invariably taken out of the moment when I imagine how _pissed_ Bess, the landlord’s daughter would be to find out that the guy she sacrificed herself for throws it all away in a testosterone fueled fit of pique. I mean, the girl gives up her life for you, and twelve hours later you die while waving a sword and galloping down the highway towards guys with guns? ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loreena-mckennitts-the-highwayman/787406/16 "2017-05-25T17:32:40Z")
Oh, Loreena McKennitt! Oh, Heaven! 🙂 🙂 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loreena-mckennitts-the-highwayman/787406/17 "2017-05-25T17:53:56Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > McKennitt’s version of the Highwayman is very moving, but I’m invariably taken out of the moment when I imagine how _pissed_ Bess, the landlord’s daughter would be to find out that the guy she sacrificed herself for throws it all away in a testosterone fueled fit of pique. I mean, the girl gives up her life for you, and twelve hours later you die while waving a sword and galloping down the highway towards guys with guns? Yep, she’s a fool and he’s a criminal fool. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loreena-mckennitts-the-highwayman/787406/18 "2017-05-25T18:40:14Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Yep, she’s a fool and he’s a criminal fool. Very smug of you to say when there was little or no economic opportunity. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loreena-mckennitts-the-highwayman/787406/19 "2017-05-25T18:49:24Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Very smug of you to say when there was little or no economic opportunity. wtf?😕😕 ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loreena-mckennitts-the-highwayman/787406/20 "2017-05-25T19:21:01Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > wtf?😕😕 Most of us would be highwaymen if the only other option was starvation. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loreena-mckennitts-the-highwayman/787406.md?page=2)