Youth Activity Archive

A Scottish-inspired song full of playful storytelling and lively energy.

This song is about speed. Repeat faster each time.

Printable Music

• Oh! MacTavish is Dead by Songs for Teaching

Recordings

• YouTube – Issy Richardson
• YouTube – Scoutadelic

Lyrics

Oh! MacTavish is dead
And his brother don’t know it.
His brother is dead
And MacTavish don’t know it.

They’re both of them dead

History

“MacTavish is Dead” is a traditional campfire song set to the tune of the “Irish Washerwoman,” an 18th-century jig (c. 1790) that became a staple of American frontier music. The melody was so prevalent in the 19th century that it is prominently featured in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie series as a favorite fiddle tune. Adopted by scouting organizations in the early 20th century, it is classified as a “speed song.” Its humor lies in its morbid absurdity (a common trait in gallows humor folk songs) and it is used at campfires as an articulation and breath-control exercise by repeating the verse at an increasingly rapid pace.

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