Scots Wha Hae
One of Scotland truly patriotic songs first written By Robert Burns in 1793 as through it was being said by Robert the Bruce just before the battle of Bannockburn in 1314. A battle which will remembered by Scots worldwide as the turning point in the battle for independence from England and a chance to rule themselves. Unfortunately that success was not be when Edward Langshafts the English king was able to raise much stronger larger armies.
Burns is said to have also been inspired by reading of the struggle for American Independence against foreign rule and like many Scots of that time wanted the American war to be the trigger for many more struggles right across Europe including his own country becoming free at last of English rule.
At the time of its publication Bruce could have been prosecuted for inspiring Scots to rebel. During the very same month (August 1783) as it was published a famous trial was being held of a Glasgow lawyer Thomas Muir as part of a crackdown by the British Government on people who were seen to be supporting rebellion.
Original Scots Version of Scots Wha Hae |
English Translation of Scots Wha Hae |
| ‘Scots, wha hæ wi’bled, Scots, wham Bruce has aften led, Welcome tæ yer gory bed, Or tæ Victorie! |
‘Scots, who have with Wallace bled, Scots, whom Bruce has often led, Welcome to your gory bed Or to victory! |
| ‘Now’s the day, and now’s the hour: See the front o’ battle lour, See approach proud Edward’s power - Chains and Slaverie! |
‘Now is the day, and now is the hour: See the front of battle lower (threaten), See approach proud Edward’s power - Chains and slavery! |
| ‘Wha will be a traitor knave? Wha will fill a coward’s grave? Wha sæ base as be a slave? Let him turn and flee! |
‘Who will be a traitor knave? Who will fill a coward’s grave? Who’s so base as be a slave? - Let him turn, and flee! |
| ‘Wha, for Scotland’s king and law, Freedom’s sword will strongly draw, Freeman stand, or Freeman fa’, Let him on wi’ me! |
‘Who for Scotland’s King and Law Freedom’s sword will strongly draw, Freeman stand or freeman fall, Let him follow me! |
| ‘By Oppression’s woes and pains! By your sons in servile chains! We will drain our dearest veins, But they shall be free! |
‘By oppression’s woes and pains, By your sons in servile chains, We will drain our dearest veins But they shall be free! |
| ‘Lay the proud usurpers low! Tyrants fall in every foe! Liberty’s in every blow! - Let us do or dee!’ |
‘Lay the proud usurpers low! Tyrants fall in every foe! Liberty is in every blow! Let us do or die!’ |
Scots Wha Hae has now been largely replaced by songs such as Scotland the Brave and Flower of Scotland but lives on as a rallying call for the Scottish National Party. A political party campaigning for Scottish Independence just like Robert the Bruce and William Wallace (BraveHeart) did hundreds of years ago.
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I once knew a young Norwegian women studying at Aberdeen university who against her better judgement visited a castle with a group of american students. She described it as “the single most depressing event of her life” Having seen as fraction of your website I now fully understood what she meant.
Heres a tip YOUR NOT SCOTISH. You dont have the accent, you dont have the passport, your totally unfamiliar with everyday life there. On top of that your notion that ‘Scottish’ DNA imparts some sort of advantage is moronically childish because other than your skin and maybe hair colour Scottish people are just people like any other people. I’l make it real simple for you…They are no more or less brave, funny, proud, noble than any other nationality.
Get on with your life and stop trying to compensate for your own shortcomings by trying to use the nationalistic cliches of another country to prop up your clearly stunted sense of identity
Kris
You obviously like to make as many assumptions as you think I am doing. You tell me I don’t have the accent that may be true to some extent but I was born in Scotland (Johnston Street, Annan Dumfrieshire) I left when still only a youngster when my parents moved for job reasons and returned to my home country of Scotland just over five years ago. We don’t as yet have a Scottish passport to prove Scottishness but I do hold a UK passport and will apply for a Scottish passport if we achieve independence. I believe that it would be good for the nation.
By suggesting all Scots have a skin and hair colour similarity suggests you have not been to Scotland very much yourself but also shows you have spent the time learning all the old racist stereotypes.
Did you think we all have red ginger hair just like those “hey Jimmie tartan bonnets” sold in all the souvenir shops? Did you know we have moved on from walking along Union Street (the main street in Aberdeen) waving claymores above our heads?
Incidentally did you know that Union Street Aberdeen was named after the Act of Union with England so we may have to change that as well
Ron
hey!
i’m from germany, and i’m writing an essay about scottish patriotic songs. for that i want to analyse the lyrics of scots wha hae, the flower of scotland and alba by runrig. i was in scotland in 2008 and i noticed some cars with stickers “alba” over “gb”. i think, it’s great that you don’t sing “god save the queen”. thus, i’m asking me what you really think of these songs. and maybe you could give me some interesting and new points for my research paper.
thank you and best wishes from germany!
hopefully, my english is not too horrid
Thank you Ron for setting Mr. Kris straight. I am an American by birth, and I too, have no Scottish accent.
My first Scottish ancestor was transported to the Virginia Colonies in 1716 as a Jacobite prisoner of war. He was my 6th Great grandfather, and I am VERY proud to know of this ancestry. He also was a fighter for the freedom of his familyand his nation just as many have fought, bled, and died for the freedom of this United states.
Because I am proud of my ancestors,and proud of this earthly bloodline that I have, I have traced my lineage back to my 9th g-grandfather in Perth, Scotland, to the year 1622. I did do the Clan Donald DNA Project, and by golly my ancestors are MacDonald of Clan Donald. I am not Scot by birth, but I am at heart; and no-one, and I mean no-one, can take that away from me. Kris and others like him can rant and rave about wannabe Scots, but all that is is uncalled for vitriol, and he can keep it to himself.
I still know where I came from and how, and that puts me at an advantage over most in the world. PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN SCOT!!!!!