Henry's Songbook

(as sung by The Corries)

[1989:] In recent years another song has come to be sung more and more as the national anthem [instead of Scotland the Brave or the Freedom Come All Ye]; this in turn illustrates a subtle change in Scottish attitudes. On the surface it is another appeal to a glorious time in Scottish history when the English invasions were destroyed decisively at Bannockburn (1314) during the Wars of Independence, but on closer examination it is a repudiation [???] of such sentiments and a reminder to the Scots that although they live in a threatened land they also have the ability and will "to rise [...] and be the nation again [...]"; it is a nationalist song, a song of rebellion. Set to slow, spiritually moving music Flower of Scotland is not only sung at Scottish Nationalist Party meetings but also across the political spectrum. (Olson, Music 155)

[1990:] [This] song for which Roy [Williamson] will be long remembered, caught the imagination almost immediately and was soon to be heard at football matches across the country; it has become, in effect, an unofficial national anthem. When Scotland's rugby team beat England at Murrayfield in March 1990 to clinch the 'Grand Slam', it was sung by 50.000 spectators. Roy and Ronnie were to have led the singing before the match, but Roy was too ill to attend.
Roy's own attitude to the tremendous success of the song was one of almost comical puzzlement, but he was obviously moved by the fact that Flower of Scotland had been drawn by seemingly irresistible force into the mainstream of Scottish folk tradition. (Henderson, Alias MacAlias 210)

http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=12515&messages=34

[1999:] Craig Brown [head coach of the Scottish Football Association] last night compared the Tartan Army's [Celtic Glasgow fans'] anthem Flower of Scotland to the sectarian songs sung by Old Firm [Glasgow Rangers] fans. [...] Ronnie Browne, whose late Corries partner Roy Williamson, penned the unofficial Scottish anthem, Flower of Scotland, said: "I can't see this song as sectarian. It is nationalistic - but that's what an anthem's for. It is not about religion. It is about Scots being Scots." (Daily Record, 28 Jul)

[2000:] Even 'Flower of Scotland' - so often misrepresented - calls for a return to the high spirit of our ancestors rather than to their militarism: 'These days are gone now and in the past they must remain'. (Dr. Fred Freeman, notes 'To Be the Nation Again')

http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=6615#174538

See also
Famous Scots: King Robert the Bruce, 1274-1329
Famous Scots: William Wallace