The songcatcher - Sharyn McCrumb

It was 1759 when a nine-year-old boy called Malcolm MacQuarrie was torn away from the Scottish island of Islay. In 1790, after war, ambition and tragedy had left their marks, he made his way down the Wilderness Road to western North Carolina where he wrested a new farm from the primeval forest, married, raised a family.



And throughout his remarkable odyssey, Malcolm MacQuarrie sang a song, a lilting song of the Scottish isles. In 1820, he sang it to his grandchild. Who sang it in turn to his grandchild, who sang it again in turn. As America changes down the years, the song resonates down the succeeding generations . . .