Lyr Add: John Maclean March

Subject: Lyr Add: JOHN MACLEAN MARCH
From: John in Brisbane
Date: 25 Nov 98 - 11:19 PM

Another one from Tartan Army - the tune quoted is 'Scotland The Brave', but I can't get it to fit. Any ideas from fellow Mudactters?

Regards
John

John Maclean March

( Words : Hamish Henderson
Music : 'Scotland the Brave' )

Hey, mac, did ye see him as he cam doun by Gorgie
Awa owre the Lammerlaw an north o the Tay?
Yon man is comin an the hail toun is turnin out
We're aa shair he'll win back tae Glesca the day
The jiners an hauders-on are merchin fae Clydebank
Come on nou an hear him he'll be owre thrang tae bide
Turn out Jock an Jimmie, leave yer cranes an yer muckle gantries
Great John Maclean's comin hame tae the Clyde

Argyll St and London Road's the route that we're merchin
The lauds frae the Broomielaw are here, tae a man!
Hey Neil, whaur's yer hauderums, ye big Heilan teuchtar
Get yer pipes, mate, an merch at the heid o the clan
Hullo, Pat Malone, shair A knew ye'd be here, so,
The red an the green, laud, we'll wear side by side
Gorbals is his the day an Glesca belangs tae him
Nou great John Maclean's comin hame tae the Clyde

Forward tae Glesca Green we'll merch in guid order
Will grips his banner weill, that boy isnae blate!
Aye, weill, man, thair's Johnnie nou, that's him thair the bonnie fechter
Lenin's his feir, laud, and Liebknecht's his mate
Tak tent whan he's speakin for thae'll mind whit he said here
In Glesca, our city, an the hail warl besides
Och man the scarlet's bonnie, here's tae ye Heilan Shonie
Great John Maclean's comin hame tae the Clyde

Aye weill, whan it's feenisht A'll awa back tae Springburn
Come hame tae yer tea, John, we'll sune hae ye fed
It's hard wark the speakin, och, A'm shair he'll be tired the nicht
A'll sleep on the flair, mac, an gie John the bed
The hail city's quiet nou, it kens that he's restin
At hame wi's Glesca freens, thair fame an thair pride
The red will be worn, ma lauds, an Scotlan will merch again
Nou great John Maclean has come hame tae the Clyde

©Hamish Henderson

Subject: RE: LYR ADD: John Maclean March
From: Bill Cameron
Date: 26 Nov 98 - 10:01 PM

Dick Gaughan sings it to a tune that is close to the A part of Scotland the Brave--but not the same. You could use StB--just not the B part.

Its on his first solo album, No More Forever (Trailer Records, 1977.)

This song fascinates me, and I have been trying to learn it, partially because I think my dad and grandfather may have been at the event described. (They emigrated from Glasgow in 1919, I believe Maclean was released in 1918, and my grandpa was a strong union man.)

Bill

Subject: RE: LYR ADD: John Maclean March
From: John in Brisbane
Date: 27 Nov 98 - 01:33 AM

I only know of the event from having researched the lyrics and tune. Is there any more you could tell us please?

Regards
John

Subject: RE: John Maclean March: more info
From:
Date: 01 Dec 98 - 03:32 AM

John, here's what I found on the song, the event and John MacLean's story:

[1977:] The John MacLean March had its first performance in the St. Andrews Hall, Glasgow, at the memorial [concert?] to the great Scottish republican socialist on 28 Nov. 1948, where it was sung by William Noble. It is set to a traditional version of a pipe melody that is today played and sung all over Scotland to the more commercially patriotic verses of Scotland the Brave. The song is notable for its gradual build-up to the conclusion, where another of Henderson's mythic figures - the proletarian teacher and leader, imprisoned and tortured for his beliefs - rests and sleeps in an ordinary worker's home. The singer is a representative Clydesider addressing firstly other lowlanders like himself ('Mac', 'Jock' and 'Jimmy'), next a Highlander and an immigrant from Ireland, in a wonderful rendering of facetious working-class camaraderie which enables the Hero to be seen as in principle no different from those who are welcoming him - from 'Wull' who 'grips his banner weel (that boy isna blate)', and which therefore makes the other heroes who are Maclean's mates, Lenin and Liebknecht, our mates too. In the second last stanza 'Glasgie, oor city' becomes 'the haill world beside'; next, at the beginning of the last verse, the vision contracts to a little room and a domestic scene (once more, the values of Burns's Cotter!) where the hero rests with his freens, before expanding into the resounding crescendo of the monosyllabic hammer-blows to which all Scotland will march now 'Great John Maclean has come hame to the Clyde'. The final synthesis is between him and us, between Hero and home - an ordinary, small family home where comradeship and sharing prevail. (Thomas Crawford, notes 'Freedom come all ye - Songs and Poems of Hamish Henderson')

[1988:] The great protagonist of adult education was teacher John MacLean (1879-1923), who began his political life in the SDF [Social Democratic Federation] and who until his death conducted classes in economics all over Scotland. MacLean, the son of a Pollokshaws potter, was one of the theorists of socialism as well as being a great propagandist. He wanted to fight the war against capitalism, and not the capitalists' war of 1914-18. In 1918 Lenin appointed him as Scottish Consul to the Bolshevik government. MacLean's recognition of the potential for revolution in Scotland during the Great War and after made him a danger to the government. He was repeatedly jailed for his political opinions and so badly treated that he died prematurely at the age of 44. As well as having a portrait and photographs of MacLean, the People's Palace [in Glasgow] has his desk and some of his personal items, including his university passes and literature from the Scottish Workers' Republican Party which was founded by him. (Elspeth King, The People's Palace 72)

[1988:] He was a schoolteacher [...] too old himself to go to the war, but he advised the young men of Scotland not to go fighting but stay at home and help the country from the inside. He was taken to court, found guilty of sedition and sentenced to seven years in a very tough prison in Scotland. It's hard to believe now but the Glasgow people complained so loudly at this savage prison sentence that the government was embarrassed, and after a few weeks they allowed the man out of prison - very quietly, but somehow the word came back to Glasgow. And when he arrived there were two hundred thousand people to meet him in the railway station. (Intro Iain MacKintosh)

[1990:] Teuchter: mildly derogatory Lowlanders' word for a Highlander. Its etymology is totally obscure and I have never heard a satisfactory explanation. (Sean Damer, Glasgow: going for a song 109)
The Socialist movement in Glasgow was closely tied in with Highland and Irish societies [and] it is not by accident that John MacLean's parents were both Highlanders and victims of the Clearances, his father from Mull and his mother from Corpach; MacLean was brought up on stories of the bitter injustice of the Highland Clearances. (Damer, Glasgow 120)
[There was] the genius and courage of John MacLean who [in Glasgow during the First World War] was everywhere, agitating, organising, educating. At times he seemed like a one-man revolutionary party. Historians like Iain McLean have found it convenient to dismiss him, but Glaswegians are not easily fooled and they turned out in their tens of thousands when he was released from jail in 1917. Hamish Henderson's fine song expresses local feelings perfectly. (Damer, Glasgow 130f)

Standard works on John MacLean by John Broom and Nan Milton, both 1973.

Subject: RE: LYR ADD: John Maclean March
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 01 Dec 98 - 03:35 PM

Both the lyrics and the tune are in the DT database: tune is vaguely related to Scotland the Brave, but certainly not the same.

Subject: RE: LYR ADD: John Maclean March
From: GUEST,Jim McLean
Date: 26 Jul 02 - 11:57 AM

There's also a Gaelic poem by Sorley MacLean: In English it reads: Not they who died in the hauteur of Inverkeithing, in spite of valour and pride, the high head of our story, but he who was in Glasgow the battle-post of the poor, great John MacLean, the top and hem of our story. I also have a broadsheet, double page music sheet, published by The Scottish Workers' Music Association. The three line notation is hand writen and just gives the credits as words by Hamish Henderson/Music trad arr. HH

A further credit on the back page reads: First sung by William Noble at the John MacLean Memorial Meeting in the St. Andrews Halls, 28th November. 1948. The front has a picture of MACLEAN 1879 - 1923 and a quote from the above poem.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: John Maclean March
From: GUEST,Lighter
Date: 18 Mar 16 - 07:07 AM

I agree with Dick that the "MacLean" tune is not that of "Scotland the Brave," though it is sometimes claimed to be.

Nor is it that of "The Bloody Fields of Flanders," as a Scottish educational website assures us.

What *was* the tune's name?

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: John Maclean March
From: JenBurdoo
Date: 18 Mar 16 - 08:50 AM

It seems fairly close to the first half of Scotland the Brave, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was derived. The tune itself may not be named John MacLean's March, because I'm pretty sure I've heard an instrumental tune by that name.

MacLean seems to have been the British equivalent of Eugene Debs (or vice versa!) - both were socialists and anti-war activists imprisoned during WWI. I've never heard any songs about Debs though. I first heard of MacLean in the McAuslan stories by George MacDonald Fraser - a minor character is a die-hard Communist (in 1946) and a platoon sergeant in the Gordon Highlanders. He refers to MacLean's rallies and has a friendly enmity with his son-of-a-baronet platoon commander.

Anyone know the chords, or if the song is under copyright? I wouldn't mind recording it.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: John Maclean March
From: Jack Campin
Date: 18 Mar 16 - 10:41 AM

The words will be copyright, since Henderson only died a few years ago, but he wouldn't have wanted his copyright enforced - he preferred his songs to float off into tradition. The tune is a slight variant of "Scotland the Brave" (or "Brave Scotland") as first published around 1880, so that will certainly be public domain. Henderson would not have wanted any harmonization to become "standard" - make up your own.

In the early published versions of the song Henderson doesn't name the tune - simply describes it as "traditional". It was probably not very well known by name at the time, since Hanley's words for it (the ones everybody knows) date from a year later.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: John Maclean March
From: mayomick
Date: 18 Mar 16 - 12:02 PM

Hugh MacDiarmuid's poem "John MacLean" here :

https://books.google.ie/books?id=uHtmyCRVVP0C&pg=PA161&lpg=PA161&dq=hugh+macdiarmid+poems+online+john+maclean&source=bl&ots=AEwn

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: John Maclean March
From: GUEST,Darker
Date: 18 Mar 16 - 02:28 PM

How about 'Bonnie Glenshee'.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: John Maclean March
From: JenBurdoo
Date: 18 Mar 16 - 03:05 PM

I've worked out the chords - the primary differences are in the first two lines. I'll try writing it using Rise Up Singing layout. I just bought a ukulele and am experimenting with it at work, so using CDG chords:

Scotland the Brave:

GGGG
CGDD
GGGG
CGDG

becomes John MacLean's March:

GGCC
DDCD (could also be DDGD?)
GGGG
CGDG

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: John Maclean March
From: Jack Campin
Date: 18 Mar 16 - 05:20 PM

How about 'Bonnie Glenshee'.

How about "Happy Birthday to You"? It's got about as much to do with it.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: John Maclean March
From: akenaton
Date: 19 Mar 16 - 02:19 PM

It's definitely a pipe march....I've heard it several times at the CHG
Don't think it's properly traditional, probably been amended slightly for the song.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: John Maclean March
From: JenBurdoo
Date: 20 Mar 16 - 10:46 PM

Here's a dialect question - what does "blate" mean? Given the context it might be "unwilling" or "shy."

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: John Maclean March
From: JenBurdoo
Date: 20 Mar 16 - 11:14 PM

Also, "thrang?"

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: John Maclean March
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 21 Mar 16 - 02:13 AM

blate = stupid or slow minded.

Dave H

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: John Maclean March
From: akenaton
Date: 21 Mar 16 - 02:36 AM

Thrang .......obstinate...quick tae rouse...the opposite of blate.