Halfhanged MacNaughten / The Toastrack

Dick Glasgow

Two more of my own wee tunes, this time written to remember John McNaughton from Benvarden, Bushmills & the Toast Rack carriages of the Bushmills Tram.

John McNaughton was hanged in 1761 for the accidental murder of his own beloved during a botched robbery, but when they were hanging him, the rope snapped at the first attempt, so the story goes that although he could have walked free, he asked them to try again, because he couldn’t live, being known as Half-hanged McNaughton.

The Toastrack was the pet name for the quaintly shaped carriage of Europe’s first Hydroelectric Tram, which ran from Portrush, past Dunluce Castle to the Giant’s causeway, from 1883 to 1949.

Musicians:
Dick Glasgow: Mandolin, Tenor Banjo, Jews Harp, Bodhran & Shaker.
Michael Sands: Guitar.

The video clips are of our two Dogs Trust Terriers, Rusty [Rolo] & Wee Dot [Little Dot], playing in our garden last summer.