That anti-war song meme

[chickenfeet]

Freedom Come Aa Ye

( Words : Hamish Henderson[1]
Music : 'The Bloody Fields of Flanders' )

Roch the win i the clear day's dawin
Blaws the clouds heilster-gowdie owre the bay
But there's mair nor a roch win blawin
Thro the Great Glen o the warl the day
It's a thocht that wad gar our rottans
Aa thae rogues that gang gallus fresh an gay
Tak the road an seek ither loanins
Wi thair ill-ploys tae sport an play

Nae mair will our bonnie callants
Merch tae war whan our braggarts crousely craw
Nor wee weans frae pitheid an clachan
Murn the ships sailin doun the Broomielaw
Broken faimilies in launs we've hairriet
Will curse 'Scotlan the Brave' nae mair, nae mair
Black an white ane-til-ither mairriet
Mak the vile barracks o thair maisters bare

Sae come aa ye at hame wi freedom
Never heed whit the houdies croak for Doom
In yer hous aa the bairns o Aidam
Will fin breid, barley-bree an paintit room
Whan MacLean meets wi's friens in Springburn
Aa thae roses an geeans will turn tae blume
An a black laud frae yont Nyanga
Dings the fell gallows o the burghers doun.

©Hamish Henderson
via Dick Gaughan's website

FN1: translation on request!

Comments

[f4f3.livejournal.com]

Thanks for that - my own brand of Socialism owes a lot the the Broomielaw, but probably more to Springburn where I was brought up. It's something that started in shipyards and railwayworks, and took its inspiration from Burns as much of Marx, and looked to all the world as being Jock Thamson's Bairns.

It's good to remember where you're from, sometimes.

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

Did I tell you I once met Annie Maxton?

[f4f3.livejournal.com]

No - James Maxton was a hero to a lot of us growing up, and his memory was held in the strangest places. I remember finding a little park dedicated to him in Barrhead, a hard town on the outskirts of Glasgow.

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

I met her at the ILP conference in Scarborough, probably 1979 but maybe a year or two later.

[mizalaina.livejournal.com]

My friend Hamish (Moore, not Henderson) did a couple of albums with jazz saxophonist Dick Lee. One of the pieces is an avant garde Scottish nationalist track that includes a group of guys singing this song. I've loved it since I first heard it.

[pyroclasticgrub.livejournal.com]

Did Dick Gaughan write "No Gods and Precious few Heroes?"

If so, he is teh cul.

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

Brian McNeill wrote it but Dick has recorded it. It's on Sail On. Dick's an interesting guy. I've seen him on stage a few times and had a few pints with him once in Seattle.