| Jessie MacLachlan | |
| Other Names: | Seònaid NicLachlainn (Gaelic) |
| Birth Date: | 18 June 1866 |
| Birth Place: | Oban, Scotland |
| Death Date: | 13 May 1916 |
| Death Place: | Glasgow, Scotland |
| Nationality: | British |
| Occupation: | Singer |
Jessie Niven MacLachlan (Scottish Gaelic: Gaelic; Scottish Gaelic: Seònaid NicLachlainn|italic=unset) (18 June 1866 – 13 May 1916) was a Scottish Gaelic soprano.
Jessie Niven MacLachlan was born at Oban, the eldest of eight children born to Alexander MacLachlan and Margaret Campbell Niven. Her father was an auctioneer.[1]
MacLachlan achieved fame as a stage singer of Gaelic song.[2] She performed for Queen Victoria, at Balmoral Castle in 1892.[3] She toured extensively. She shared a bill with singer Harry Lauder and violinist Mackenzie Murdoch on a Scottish tour.[4] She toured in North America in 1901;[5] while in Canada, she sang with a teenaged Henry Burr, at the Opera House in Saint John.[6] In 1902, she sang at the Scottish Concert of the London Inverness-shire Association, to raise funds for Scottish scholarships and a "Home Club for Highland Lads" in London.[7] In 1905 she sang at a Burns Monument Fund benefit concert in Boston.[8] She performed in New Zealand in 1905 and again in 1907.[9] [10]
During her North American tour, MacLachlan was celebrated in newspapers and helped to increase the popularity of Gaelic song there.[11] "Whether it is crooning a Highland cradle song, or a call to the clans to take up arms, she is equally successful", observed one New Zealand reviewer in 1907, about her repertoire.[12]
In September 1899, MacLachlan made the first commercial gramophone recordings of Gaelic song, performing "Gaelic; Scottish Gaelic: Oro Mo Nighean Donn Bhòidheach|italic=unset" ('Ho-ro my Beautiful Brown Maiden') and "Gaelic; Scottish Gaelic: Mo Dhachaigh|italic=unset" ('My Home') to piano accompaniment.[13] [14] She made further recordings in England in 1903.[15]
Jessie MacLachlan married her accompanist Robert Buchanan in 1887. They had a son. She died in Glasgow in 1916, aged 49 years, shortly after making a "hazardous journey" from France during World War I. Her grave is in Cathcart Cemetery.[16]