Scotland the Brave

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"Scotland the Brave" is, along with "Flower of Scotland" and "Scots Wha Hae", an unofficial national anthem of Scotland. Probably the best known, it is used as the Scottish national anthem at the Commonwealth Games.

It is also the authorised pipe band march of The British Columbia Dragoons of the Canadian Forces and is played during the Pass in Review at Friday parades at The Citadel.

The song is on a CD called Sons of Somerled.

The lyrics were written comparatively recently by the Scottish journalist Cliff Hanley, roughly the 1950s, but he wrote them to a piping tune which goes back further. There was a significant anachronism in Kenneth Branagh's TV film Shackleton where some of the characters sang this song. "Scotland the Brave" is arranged to accompany Men of Harlech as part of the Radio 4 UK Theme.

[edit] Lyrics

Hark when the night is fallin
Hear! Hear the pipes are calling,
Loudly and proudly calling,
Down thro' the glen.
There where the hills are sleeping,
Now feel the blood a-leaping,
High as the spirits of the old Highland men.

Towering in gallant fame,
Scotland my mountain hame,
High may your proud standards gloriously wave,
Land of my high endeavour,
Land of the shining river,
Land of my heart for ever,
Scotland the brave.

High in the misty Highlands,
Out by the purple islands,
Brave are the hearts that beat
Beneath Scottish skies.
Wild are the winds to meet you,
Staunch are the friends that greet you,
Kind as the love that shines from fair maidens' eyes.

Far off in sunlit places,
Sad are the Scottish faces,
Yearning to feel the kiss
Of sweet Scottish rain.
Where tropic skies are beaming,
Love sets the heart a-dreaming,
Longing and dreaming for the homeland again.

Retrieved from wikisource:Scotland the Brave

A second, more militant (and less sentimental) version of the lyrics was penned by John McDermott^{[citation needed]}.
It is entitled Scotland For Ever (Scotland the Brave)

Let Italy boast of her gay gilded waters
Her vines and her bowers and her soft sunny skies.
Her sons drinking love from the eyes of her daughters
Where freedom expires amid softness and sighs.

Scotland's blue mountains wild where hoary cliffs are piled
Towering in grandeur are dearer tae me.
Land of the misty cloud, land of the tempest loud
Land of the brave and proud, land of the free.

Enthroned on the peak of her own highland mountains,
The spirit of Scotia reigns fearless and free.
Her green tartan waving o'er blue rock and fountain
And proudly she sings looking over the sea.

Here among my mountains wild, I have serenely smiled
When armies and empires against me were hurled.
Firm as my native rock, I have withstood the shock,
Of England, of Denmark, of Rome and the world.

But see how proudly her war steeds are prancing,
Deep groves of steel trodden down in their path.
The eyes of my sons, like their bright swords are glancing,
Triumphantly riding through ruin and death.

Bold hearts and nodding plumes wave o'er their bloody tombs
Deep-eyed in gore is the green tartan's wave.
Shiv'ring are the ranks of steel, dire is the horseman's wheel
Victorious in battlefield Scotland the brave.