The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #10176   Message #3748284
Posted By: GUEST,henryp
03-Nov-15 - 06:38 AM
Thread Name: Origin: Will Ye Go to Flanders
Subject: RE: Origin: Will Ye Go to Flanders
The Battle of Sheriffmuir; 13th November 1715

Will ye go to Sheriffmuir,
Bauld John o Innisture?
There to see the noble Mar,
And his Heiland laddies.
A' the true men o the north,
Angus, Huntly and Seaforth,
Scouring on tae cross the Forth,
Wi their white cock-a-dies.

There you'll see the banners flare,
There you'll hear the bagpipes rare,
And the trumpets deadly blare,
Wi the cannon's rattle,
There you'll see the bold McCraws,
Cameron's and Clanronald's raws,
A' the clans wi loud huzzas,
Rushing tae the battle.

http://digital.nls.uk/1715-rising/songs/will-ye-go-tae-sheriffmuir/index.html

Whilst most of this song celebrates the Jacobites involved in the battle and uses typical military themes, the third verse displays the Jacobite animosity towards the Whigs, Presbyterianism and that religion's strict morality. Transgressors were publicly chastised in church while sitting on the 18th century's version of the naughty step: the cutty stool.