These were the five finalists for a possible Scottish national anthem as chosen by a 2006 poll:

Flower o' Scotland

Pro: Won the popular vote by a landslide. Sung at rugby matches.

Con: It's a folk song from 1968. It would be like subbing "The Star Spangled Banner" with "Blowin' in the Wind"

Scotland the Brave

Pro: Everyone knows the tune.

Con: No one knows the lyrics. Including anyone on Youtube it seems.

Highland Cathedral

Pro: Sounds good on bagpipes

Con: Highla-who?

Scots Wha Hae

Pro: It's by the man himself, Robbie Burns, it's in guid Scots, and it's about the Bruce at Bannockburn.

Con: It's about blood flowing from veins, killing people and dying horribly.

A Man's A Man For A' That

Pro: lovely melody, also by Burns, less pugnacious than Scots Wha Hae. Sung at the opening of the Scottish Parliament

Con: Not really about Scotland. More about universal brotherhood etc. Lovely words but not really tribal enough for a national anthem.

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Flower of Scotland, purely because I like it from the rugby

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Skye Boat Song. It captures the essence of the highlands.

For the poll I go with "Scotland, the brave".

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The theme from Braveheart

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Not necessarily a disqualifier. Consider "Le Marseilles".

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Why would Scotland need a national anthem?

They can always use the British national anthem:

"The English the English the English are best!
I wouldn't give tuppence for all of the rest!"

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Stuff FoS sung bythe Corries.
You have to hear it sung at rugby.
It is not at its best then as a song, played slower than it should and of course shouted and out of tune. But it so encapsulates Scots poeple (shame on you, Parallaxicaility - SCOTS, not 'Scottish' which is a German dance) and the Scots personality if they have just one. Brave, easy to anger, quick to friendship. The song sounds equally well played on the pipes, so there's a bonus too.

As to why they need one, have you ever heard 'God Save the Queen'?
A most god-awful dirge, that when played for the England rugby team must be worth a broken leg or two for the opposition. No contest, FoS!

John
Ps I'm English and FoS always brings a tear to my eye!

I suggest the line from Mike Myers' Saturday Night Live skit.

"It is ain't Scotish, it's CRAP!"

Short and to the point. Not certain about the tune but that might be unnecessary.

Did you mean the schottische?

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I think we might have to restrict that to being an English anthem, given that the verses are so rude about the rest of the British people.


Of course the current British anthem, Rule Britannia, is almost as bad when you get to the sixth verse:

Lord grant that Marshal Wade
May by thy mighty aid
Victory bring.
May he sedition hush,
And like a torrent rush,
Rebellious Scots to crush.
God save the Queen!

Just a tickle of Anglocentrism there ...

Grant Hutchison

Yes a fine verse. I think it's mostly used in Canada these days though.

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"If You Hate The <expletive deleted> English Clap Your Hands"

That's one the whole world can sing along to!

(note - this is a joke)

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I got my version from Flanders and Swan, who might indeed by on the English side of British.


Perhaps a working draft for an all-purpose national anthem:

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Been to the Highlands often?

I've voted for "Flower Of Scotland" on this poll. It is rousing in a way that none of the other options are.

(I seem to be the token Scotsman on this, at least so far)

Edited afterthought - as for "God Save The Queen", the verse mentoned above was extremely short lived. I will, of course, point out that said verse is indeed from "God Save The Queen", the UK national anthem, not "Rule Britannia" as stated earlier, which is completely different and was in fact written by a Scotsman (James Thompson).

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If memory serves, that's the original version.

Yes, typing the actual words "God save the Queen" at the end of the verse should have made me wonder why the heck I'd typed "Rule Britannia" earlier.

Grant Hutchison

<From the German, der schottische tanz, (the Scottish dance) < Schotte < OHG Scotto < LL Scottus
The Online Dictionary

But then why should Germans know any better?
In fact Prince Albert, that famous German husband, didn't know any better, and called the Scots people that his wife loved so much, 'schottische' and the English followed by calling them scottish.

John

Thanks for the philology, I love word origins, the quirkier the better.

And all I can think of asking back is: Do you have Prince Albert in a can?

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This is getting a bit off-topic Mike, but I had to look that up, as I suspected you were being a bit rude. But you're not!
If you want to know what I suspected, do a Google Image search for "Prince Albert", but DO NOT IF YOU ARE OFFENDABLE.

John