The official national anthem
of the United Kingdom (Scotland, Northern Ireland and England)
is God Save The Queen. It is a dreary slow-tempo tune, uninspiring
at best, and was mated to its words in the early 18th century.
There is a little known verse Lord make the nations see/That
men should brothers be/And form one family/The wide world
over. That was radical thinking in the 18th century.
Only the first verse of the song is ever used now, but in
1745, at the time of the Jacobite rebellion, this verse
was added:
Lord, grant that Marshal Wade/May by thy mighty aid/Victory
bring.
And like a torrent rush/Rebellious Scots to crush/God save
the King
After the battle of Culloden and Prince Charles' flight
to France, the rebellion was over, and Scots-crushing verse
was dropped from the song, but it was never forgotten in
Scotland.
As a public sense of nationhood grew in Scotland, as demonstrated
by the rise of the Scottish National Party, it become impossible
to use the God Save The Queen at soccer and rugby matches,
it was drowned out by boos and whistles.
In 1967 Roy Williamson of folk group The Corries wrote The
Flower Of Scotland, a song about the battle of Bannockburn
in 1314. Powerful and emotional, it soon became the Scottish
fans' anthem of choice, which they would sing against the
national anthem. The Scottish Football Association and other
official bodies resisted, but eventually they let the tide
take them.
If you do not know Flower Of Scotland (the has somehow vanished
from the title) the clip below will let you feel the raw
force of it when sung by thousands of fans gathered for
a rugby match against England. Turn up the volume, and try
to imagine being on a visiting team in that atmosphere.
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