{"id":16960,"date":"2022-08-14T06:56:33","date_gmt":"2022-08-14T06:56:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/?page_id=16960"},"modified":"2025-12-18T07:14:41","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T07:14:41","slug":"make-your-mind-up-maggie-mckenzie","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/index.php\/make-your-mind-up-maggie-mckenzie\/","title":{"rendered":"Make your mind up, Maggie McKenzie"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
AKA<\/strong><\/td>Maggie Mackenzie<\/td><\/tr>
First Published<\/td>1913<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Writer\/composer<\/td>AJ Mills and Bennett Scott<\/td>Roud<\/strong><\/td>RN43177<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Music Hall Performers<\/strong><\/td>Daisy Dormer<\/td><\/tr>
Folk performances<\/strong><\/td>Collected from the singing of:<\/strong>
Clark, LaRena; Canada : Ontario; 1968<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Transcribed from UCSB Glen Ellison 1915 Edison recording<\/a> by John Baxter (this is slightly different from the Hector  Gordon recording below):\n\n\nA bonnie highland lassie is Maggie McKenzie\nShe fascinates me badly wi' her tartan dress and tammy\nBut when I spoke of marriage, wi' a twinkle in her eye\n\"I'm never going to marry\" she'd reply.\nBut then I used to persevere \nAnd nightly whisper in her ear...\n\nMake your mind up Maggie McKenzie\nYou're the best wee lassie I know\nAnd though you say that you will never marry<\/em>\nWell I don't believe that's so<\/em>\nNow don't be foolish Maggie McKenzie\nFor you know I love you true\nAnd if your father and your mother\nThought it good for one another<\/em>\nSurely that's good enough for you!<\/em>\n\n[Extended comic patter follows discussing the peculiarities of Maggie's family, followed by a repeat of the chorus]\n\n<\/pre>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
A popular song in the pre-war period 1913-14,  later collected from the singing of the prolific traditional Canadian singer LaRena Clark by Edith Fowke. It was most associated with the singing of Daisy Dormer, but later taken up by other singers (a brief biography of Daisy Dormer is in preparation). Allegedly a song that classical composer and folksong collector Ralph Vaughn Williams<\/a> liked to play on the organ…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The words were by English songwriter AJ Mills<\/a> with music by Bennett Scott<\/a> and at least two contemporary recordings were made, one in 1914 by Hector Gordon seen in the YouTube video below, and one in 1915 on Edison cylinder by Glen Ellison:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Glen Ellison: Make your mind up, Maggie MacKenzie (1915) UCSB Cylinder Archive<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Hector Gordon’s 1914 recording:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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