Sung slowly and dramatically enough, I think Hyslop's words do scan the melody reasonably well - at least as well as they do "Roderick Vich McAlpine" - assuming Hyslop was thinking of Sanderson's "Hail to the Chief."

While Guest is right that we don't know for sure what words or melody was used for "Scotland the Brave" on the stage, his discovery of an 1859 newspaper printing of "Scottish National Melody" under the new title of "Scotland the Brave" - added to the fact that the apparently new melody fits the words well enough (especially the internal rhymes that are emphasized by the high part of the tune)- makes it far more likely than not that Hyslop's lyrics were sung to a recognizable version of the familiar tune. Otherwise we'd have to conjecture additional tunes and perhaps additional lyrics, even though there's no evidence they existed.

To push the analysis just a little further: the "STB" march may be a military adaptation of a more leisurely melodic style. Think of various pop songs played by marching bands today.

Jack's observation about the key change from Logan to Macdonald is valuable. The two editors seem to have learned the tune independently. Hence the disparate titles of "Brave Scotland" and "Scotland for Ever." (The latter phrase, of course, is also in Hyslop's song. It is said to have been the battle-cry of the Scots Greys at Waterloo in 1815.)

It is significant that Macdonald specifically calls it a "trumpet march" rather than a pipe march.