Hi,Here is what Dick Gaughan says about it on his web page.
"This was written in 1979 shortly after the Scots returned a majority in favour of a separate Scottish Parliament but the vote was vetoed in the UK Parliament due to the actions of some Members from the North of England. There is an intentional irony in the fact that the original text was an attack upon the Treaty of Union of 1707 which abolished the independent Scots and English Parliaments and set up the United Kingdom.
The verses call for the recognition of Scotland's right to sovereignty and the choruses argue against prejudice between our peoples.
The Tweed is the river which forms part of the Scots-English border and is used here as a symbol of both the need for independence and the need for friendship and co-existance."
Slainte
Alison
Note from Joe Offer (6 July 2011): The Gaughan Website now says, "This was put into this form in 1979..."