Scotland the Brave

"Scotland the Brave" (Scottish Gaelic: Alba an Àigh) is a Scottish patriotic song. It was one of several songs considered an unofficial national anthem of Scotland.

The tune probably first appeared around the turn of the 20th century, and at that time was sometimes known as Scotland the Brave. The lyrics commonly sung today were written in around 1950 by the Scottish journalist Cliff Hanley for the singer Robert Wilson in an arrangement by Marion McClurg.

"Scotland the Brave" is also the authorised pipe band march of The British Columbia Dragoons of Her Majesty's Canadian Armed Forces, and also is played during the Pass in Review at Friday parades at The Citadel, and the Virginia Military Institute. In 2006, it was adopted as the regimental quick march of the Royal Regiment of Scotland.

The Scotland national football team used "Scotland the Brave" as its anthem in the 1982 and 1986 FIFA World Cups. "Flower of Scotland" was subsequently adopted by the national football team, following its successful use by the Scotland national rugby union team.

Bagpipes

Bagpipes are a class of musical instrument, aerophones, using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. Though the Scottish Great Highland bagpipes have the greatest visibility in the English-speaking world, bagpipes have been played for centuries (and continue to be played) throughout large parts of Europe, Turkey, the Caucasus, around the Persian Gulf, Northern Africa and North America. The term "bagpipe" is equally correct in the singular or plural, although in the English language, pipers most commonly talk of "the pipes", "a set of pipes" or "a stand of pipes".

Construction

A set of bagpipes minimally consists of an air supply, a bag, a chanter, and usually, at least one drone. Most bagpipes have more than one drone (and, sometimes, more than one chanter) in various combinations, held in place in stocks — sockets that fasten the various pipes to the bag.

Air supply

The most common method of supplying air to the bag is through blowing into a blowpipe, or blowstick. In some pipes the player must cover the tip of the blowpipe with his tongue while inhaling, but most blowpipes have a non-return valve that eliminates this need.

Flower of Scotland

Flower of Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: Flùr na h-Alba, Scots: Flouer o Scotland) is a Scottish song, used frequently at special occasions and sporting events. Although there is no official national anthem of Scotland, Flower of Scotland is one of a number of songs which fulfil this role, along with the older Scots Wha Hae, Scotland the Brave, and the more recent Highland Cathedral. It was written by Roy Williamson of the folk group the Corries, and presented in 1967, and refers to the victory of the Scots, led by Robert the Bruce, over England's Edward II at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.

Lyrics

The song was composed and is sung in English, typically with Scots pronunciation of a few words (e.g. "Tae" as opposed to "To"). The below are literal translations and do not necessarily convey the meaning of the song properly.

Popular use

The song has been used as a National Anthem by the Scotland national rugby union team, ever since the winger, Billy Steele, encouraged his team-mates to sing it on the victorious Lions tour of South Africa in 1974. The song was adopted as the pre-game anthem during the deciding match of the 1990 Five Nations Championship between Scotland and England, which Scotland won 13–7 to win the Grand Slam. The Scottish Football Association adopted "Flower of Scotland" as its pre-game national anthem in 1997 although it was first used by them in 1993. Usually only the first and third verses are sung.

Scotland

Scotland (/ˈskɒt.lənd/; Scots: [ˈskɔt.lənd]; Scottish Gaelic: Alba [ˈal̪ˠapə]) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and covers the northern third of the island of Great Britain. It shares a border with England to the south, and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the south-west. In addition to the mainland, the country is made up of more than 790 islands, including the Northern Isles and the Hebrides.

Edinburgh, the country's capital and second-largest city, was the hub of the Scottish Enlightenment of the 18th century, which transformed Scotland into one of the commercial, intellectual, and industrial powerhouses of Europe. Glasgow, Scotland's largest city, was once one of the world's leading industrial cities and now lies at the centre of the Greater Glasgow conurbation. Scottish waters consist of a large sector of the North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest oil reserves in the European Union. This has given Aberdeen, the third-largest city in Scotland, the title of Europe's oil capital.

Pipe band

A pipe band is a musical ensemble consisting of pipers and drummers. The term used by military pipe bands, pipes and drums, is also common.

The most common form of pipe band, the Scottish/Irish pipe band, consists of a section of pipers playing the Great Highland Bagpipe (In Ireland known as the Great Irish Warpipes), a section of snare drummers (often referred to as 'side drummers'), several tenor drummers and usually one, though occasionally two, bass drummers. The entire drum section is known collectively as the drum corps. The tenor drummers and bass drummer are referred to collectively as the 'bass section' (or in North America as the 'midsection'). The band follows the direction of the pipe major; when on parade the band may be led by a drum major, who directs the band with a mace. Standard instrumentation for a pipe band involves 6 to 25 pipers, 3 to 10 side drummers, 1 to 6 tenor drummers and 1 bass drummer. Occasionally this instrumentation is augmented to include additional instruments (such as additional percussion instruments or keyboard instruments), but this is typically done only in concert settings.