The Highwayman

Posted by Moira McCrossan Jan 15, 2007

Nicola Morgan is not alone in bringing The Highwayman to life for a modern audience. Loreena McKennit, the Canadian singer and harpist, has set it to music and sings a fine dramatic version of the poem on her 1997 CD, Book of Secrets. Former Planxty musician, Andy Irvine also sings Loreena’s arrangement on his 2001 CD, Way out Yonder. The late Phil Ochs produced a musical version but it doesn’t have the driving rhythm of the poem that Loreena McKennitt’s version so well preserves.