Scotland the Brave

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"Scotland the Brave" (Scottish Gaelic: Alba an Aigh) is a Scottish patriotic song. It was one of several songs considered an unofficial national anthem of Scotland.

"Scotland the Brave" is also the authorised pipe band march of The British Columbia Dragoons of Her Majesty's Canadian Armed Forces,^[1] and also is played during the Pass in Review at Friday parades at The Citadel, and the Virginia Military Institute.^{[citation needed]} In 2006,^{[citation needed]} it was adopted as the regimental quick march of the Royal Regiment of Scotland.

The Scotland national football team used Scotland the Brave as its anthem in the 1982 and 1986 FIFA World Cups.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5] Flower of Scotland was subsequently adopted by the national football team, following its successful use by the Scotland national rugby union team.^[5]

"Scotland the Brave" is a popular song for pipe bands to play in American parades.

Lyrics

The tune probably first appeared around the turn of the 20th century,^[6] and at that time was sometimes known as Scotland the Brave. The lyrics commonly sung today were written in around 1950 by the Scottish journalist Cliff Hanley for the singer Robert Wilson in an arrangement by Marion McClurg.

Scotland the Brave - Cliff Hanley lyrics

Hark! When the night is falling
Hear, Hear! the pipes are calling,
Loudly and proudly calling, down through the glen.
There where the hills are sleeping,
Now feel the blood a-leaping,
High as the spirits of the old Highland men.

Chorus
(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.

Chorus

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.

Chorus

There is another set of lyrics known as My Bonnie Lassie

My Bonnie Lassie lyrics

Drums in my heart are drummin,
I hear the bagpipes hummin,
My Bonnie Lassie's comin over the sea.
My heart with her she's bringin,
I hear the blue bells ringin,
Soon we'll be highland flingin,
My love and me.

Chorus:
(I'll meet her at the shore,
Playin the pipes for her,
Dressed in a kilt and a tam o'shanter too.
Drums in my heart are drummin,
I hear the bagpipes hummin,
My Bonnie Lassie's comin, comin to me.)

Somewhere a ship and crew,
Sails o'er the ocean blue,
Bringing, oh, bringing,
My bonnie back to me.
That's why the drums are drummin,
That's why the pipes are hummin,
My Bonnie Lassie's comin, comin to me.

Chorus

Sad are the lads she's leavin,
Many a sigh they're heavin,
Even the heather's grievin, cryin with dew.
She's left her native highland,
To come and live in my land,
She'll love the folks who smile,
And say, "how-de-do".

Chorus

There is also an alternative set of lyrics by John McDermott Scotland Forever, sung to the same tune:

John McDermott version lyrics

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-dyed in gore is the green tartan's wave,
Shivering are the ranks of steel dire is the horseman's wheel,
Victorious in battlefield Scotland the brave.

Unofficial national anthem

In June 2006, the song came in second in an online poll with more than 10,000 votes to determine the nation's favourite unofficial anthem, losing only to Flower of Scotland.^[7] The song was used to represent Scotland in the Commonwealth Games until it was replaced by Flower of Scotland from the 2010 games in Delhi onwards.^[8]

In popular culture

The Dropkick Murphys song "Cadence to Arms" off their debut album Do or Die is a reworking of Scotland the Brave's melody.
The song was among the entrance songs for professional wrestler Roddy Piper during his time in the WWF.
Dorothy the Dinosaur dances to this song in the Wiggles' 1997 videotape: "Wiggly, Wiggly Christmas".
A comic version by The Corries mixes humorous and topical lyrics. ^[9]
The Latter-day Saints hymn "Praise to the Man" is set to the tune of Scotland the Brave.
Music also used for the Hawkesbury Agricultural College Rugby Team chant "Hawkesbury the Brave".
The Halifax Mooseheads Quebec Major Junior Hockey League team plays a techno version of the song when the Mooseheads score.
This tune can be heard being played on bagpipe during the funeral ceremony in the popular movie "The Departed".

References

↑ Canadian Forces webpage. Retrieved 2013-01-25
↑ "Scotland vs Denmark 1986".
↑ "URSS vs Scotland 1982".
↑ Hamilton, Fiona (February 7, 2010). "Margaret Thatcher feared the Scotland the Brave anthem". The Sunday Times (London).
↑ 5.0 5.1 Mills, Rod (3 February 2010). "Thatcher was terrified by Scotland the Brave". Daily Express (Northern and Shell Media Publications). Retrieved 16 September 2013.
↑ The Fiddler's Companion
↑ The Royal Scottish National Orchestra - Stéphane Denève (Music Director) - The RSNO National Anthem Poll Winner
↑ "Games team picks new Scots anthem". BBC News. January 9, 2010.
↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kK6LkpfZ94s

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