Captain John MacPherson
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Notes

Known as "The Black Officer of Balachroan", this individual was much hated for his unscrupulous methods in the recruiting of young lads for the wars in Europe. The association with the Devil was widely and firmly believed at the time, and his demise was reckoned to be the result of "Auld Nick" coming to claim his own.

Gaick is a remote spot in the hills to the east of Drumochter. The lodge where MacPherson and his party stayed was overwhelmed by the avalanche over New Year, 1800; and the discoveries at the scene and the reported difficulties in removing his corpse are related in the song.

In common with "The Banchory Wager", I first learned of this story from the Scottish Mountaineering Club’s Guide to the Cairngorms, and the style is deliberately somewhat traditional.