#OTD, 24 June, in 1314, the Scottish army under King Robert I destroyed a much larger English invasion force at Bannockburn, in one of the most decisive battles in medieval history. In 1793 Robert Burns composed “Scots Wha Hae”, originally entitled “Robert Bruce’s March To Bannockburn”
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#Scottish #literature #Bannockburn #BattleofBannockburn #14thcentury #medieval #history #18thcentury #RobertBurns
Burns wrote that he was inspired by Bruce’s “glorious struggle for Freedom, associated with the glowing ideas of some other struggles of the same nature, not quite so ancient” – prob. a reference to the Radical movement, & to Thomas Muir of Huntershill
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https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=evans;idno=N21038.0001.001
The song quickly became popular, & the tune was adapted as “Marche des soldats de Robert Bruce” for the French army. It also features in the concert overture “Rob Roy” by Berlioz & the 4th movement of the “Scottish Fantasy” by Max Bruch
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zE4eE20Dk5I
#Scottish #literature #18thcentury #19thcentury #music #classicalmusic
In 1881 the New York Times, reviewing Helen Kendrick Johnson’s OUR FAMILIAR SONGS & THOSE WHO MADE THEM, asserted that no song was “more glorious”, & that once Burns’s poem had been set to the tune of “Hey, Tuttie Tatie”, it “marched through the land forever, loud, & triumphant”
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#Scottish #literature #RoberBurns #18thcentury #19thcentury #music
Here is Dick Gaughan performing “Scots Wha Hae”, to an audience that includes Dr Maya Angelou – from the documentary ANGELOU ON BURNS (first shown on BBC2, 1996)
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qx8hEoJNVdM
#Scottish #literature #18thcentury #music #song #MayaAngelou
PS – the whole of ANGELOU ON BURNS is currently available to watch on the BBC iPlayer
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0013vcs
#Scottish #literature #18thcentury #RobertBurns #MayaAngelou
PPS – if you can’t see the documentary on the iPlayer, it’s also on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwbuCL-Osh8
#Scottish #literature #18thcentury #RobertBurns #MayaAngelou
Assoc for Scottish Literature