Note - Suzanne has wisely made a new thread for the song she mentioned about Sutherland. The thread title is "Lyr Add: Shores of Sutherland" and you can find it by doing a forum search or setting the filter and refreshing the threads.

It says in the previous thread on Land of MacLeod that the "The Corries Songbook" cites "I Will Go" as Trad, translated from Gaelic and additional words by Roddy MacMillan.

I take the King's son of the song to be "Bonnie Prince Charlie" Stewart, son of King James. After the Jacobites (supporters of the House of Stewart) were defeated , many went to join regiments overseas. Charles himself fled to France.

The social and legal changes in the Highlands and the repression of Highlanders in the aftermath of the Battle of Culloden(1746) were a prelude to the Clearances. MacMillan's final verse tells what unpalatable sights were likely to meet the men if they returned home.