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Margaret MacArthur (7 May 1928 – 23 May 2006) was an American singer and player of the Appalachian dulcimer, born in Chicago. As a child, she moved frequently with her family across California, Louisiana, and Arizona. At the age of five, she was inspired by cowboys singing folk songs in the Tonto National Forest. She studied at Hutchins College of the University of Chicago and married John MacArthur in 1948, after which they settled in Newfane, Vermont. In 1951, they moved into a 200-year-old farmhouse in Marlboro, Vermont, where they lived without electricity or running water for the first six years. Margaret's interest in folk music grew when she purchased "Country Songs of Vermont" by Helen Hartness Flanders, which influenced her future song collecting. She volunteered to teach music at her children's school and sought out traditional singers in Vermont. By 1951, she was performing on local radio. In 1960, she received an old harp-zither from a neighbor, which her husband repaired and customized, leading her to become an expert player. An instrument manufacturer later created copies of it, naming it the "MacArthur Harp." In 1962, she recorded her first album, "Folksongs of Vermont," in her kitchen. Her subsequent albums included "On the Mountains High" (1972) and "The Old Songs" (1976), featuring family members

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