Scotland the Brave

Scotland the Brave
Alba an Aigh

Unofficial anthem of  Scotland
Lyrics	Cliff Hanley (unofficial), 1950
Music sample
Scotland the Brave (Instrumental)

"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.

The tune probably first appeared around the turn of the 20th century,^[1] 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" is also the authorised pipe band march of The British Columbia Dragoons of Her Majesty's Canadian Armed Forces,^[2] and also is played during the Pass in Review at Friday parades at The Citadel, and the Virginia Military Institute. In 2006, 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.^[3][4][5][6] "Flower of Scotland" was subsequently adopted by the national football team, following its successful use by the Scotland national rugby union team.^[6]

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

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

• In the 1970 film Patton, the song is played by the band of the British Eighth Army in a victory parade through the streets of Messina, led by General Bernard Law Montgomery, before discovering that General George S. Patton and his Seventh US Army were already there to meet him. After a short exchange between the rival commanders, "Scotland the Brave" is struck up again, but is then symbolically drowned out by the American band's rendition of "The Stars and Stripes Forever."
• "Scotland the Brave" is sometimes used as an unofficial fight song by Macalester College, whose athletic teams are nicknamed the Fighting Scots. Additionally, a modified version is sung after a football victory, and the opening verse and chorus is sung before all rugby games.
• 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 is among the entrance songs for professional wrestler Roddy Piper during his time in WWE.
• 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".
• The melody is 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.
• This song is played on bagpipe and drums during the scene 'The Canadians Arrive' in the 1968 film The Devil's Brigade. It is also played over the opening and closing credits of the film. ^[10]
• The German heavy metal band Grave Digger have a version of "Scotland the Brave" as the intro of their album Tunes of War.^[11]
• The first verse and chorus of Hanely's version are sung a cappella in Stuart Ross' 1990 musical Forever Plaid.
• The Scottish ITV television station Grampian Television used the first few notes of the song in its logo identifications (or "idents") during its first three decades of broadcasting.^[12]

References