SUCH A PARCEL OF ROGUES IN A NATION: British folk-rock group, Steeleye Span, captures the bleak bitterness of Burn's 1791 poem in their superb 1973 rendition of the traditional Scottish folk song.
Farewell now to our Scottish fame
Farewell our ancient glory;
Farewell even to the Scottish name,
So famed in martial story.
Now Sark runs over Solway sands,
And Tweed runs to the ocean,
To mark where England's province stands -
Such a parcel of rogues in a nation!
What force or guile could not subdue,
Through many warlike ages,
Is wrought now by a coward few,
For hireling traitor's wages.
The English steel we could disdain,
Secure in valour's station;
But English gold has been our bane -
Such a parcel of rogues in a nation!
O would, before I'd seen the day
That Treason thus could sell us,
My old grey head had lain in clay,
With Bruce and loyal Wallace!
But pith and power, 'til my last hour
I'll make this declaration;
We were bought and sold for English gold -
Such a parcel of rogues in a nation!
We were bought and sold for English gold -
Such a parcel of rogues in a nation!
Video courtesy of YouTube
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I must confess I was hoping for a yes vote for a number of reasons. Firstly it would have ensured that Scotland had left-wing governments for the foreseeable future, and might have done something sensible with their oil revenues. And secondly it might have forced "new" labour to take a second look at the stupidity of competing for votes in the centre when there are so many people out there who simply don't vote because there's no one to vote for. Speaking of that – off to vote if I can find someone to vote for :-).
ReplyDeleteBut also the no vote means that England and Wales can count on the Scottish votes when trying to unseat the Tories.
ReplyDeleteAre you saying Scots who voted to stay part of the union are not 'true' Scots, Chris? Because that's a rather contentious suggestion, and more typical of snivelling right wing division mongers.
ReplyDeleteYou're actually talking about my family there. My immediate family - father, brother, sisters, not some vague phoney folk ancestral affiliation. People who actually had to live with the consequences of their decision, not some smug blogger in New Zealand with a rose tinted view of Scotland.
People can disagree with you, and still be honest and even patriotic.
Great song- Perhaps also a requiem for the mana party !!
ReplyDeleteThe way I look at it, is that the "No" campaign has saved England from the 100% certainty of a permanent Tory majority.
ReplyDeleteNice one, Gordon and Alistair!
Manfred, you're assuming that the Scots have some obligation to the rest of Britain? Scotland as far as I know has only one Tory seat. It's voted solidly left for years, and has been ruled by Tory governments more often than not. Particularly if you regard new Labour as Tory which I do. Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind, and a "short sharp shock" :-) might infuse some backbone into the British Labour Party - such as it is.
ReplyDeleteGS
ReplyDeleteI assume that Scotland has some obligation towards the rest of Britain on the basis of all human inhabitants of the islands being members of the same species and therefore having obligations towards each other.
Moreover, “Scotland”, “England” and “The United Kingdom” are all historical/cultural constructs rather than naturally occurring, eternal verities. This means that there’s nothing inherently wrong about Scottish independence. But nor is there anything inherently right about it.
Personally, I favour reconstituting the Welsh-speaking Kingdom of Strathclyde, with maximal boundaries on the Mersey and the Clyde. It’s a totally arbitrary and subjective preference but based on solid historical precedent and no more subjective than a sense of Scottishness.
To quote Burns: “A Man's a Man for A' That!”
I'm relieved but sad at the same time.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/21/what-now-scotland-young-yes-generation
ReplyDeleteThe NO vote left me feeling gutted....but now?. It was almost worth it to see the treachery and dishonesty of Westminster exposed.
ReplyDeleteIt is not possible to utter any criticism of the Tories et al that is as trenchant as the coals they publicly lay on their own heads.
Perhaps clouds do have a silver lining.