The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #45692   Message #3955937
Posted By: Anne Neilson
10-Oct-18 - 04:20 PM
Thread Name: Help: Scots Language in 'Freedom Come All Ye'
Subject: RE: Help: Scots Language in 'Freedom Come All Ye'
Thanks to Scabby Douglas for finding the link.

I remember buying one of the wee booklets of Scottish protest songs containing Roch the Wind whilst I was still at secondary school c.1960/1 -- think McMillan's speech about 'the winds of change' was possibly 1959? -- and can't confirm that we learned it at our school Ballads Club in Rutherglen Academy, led by our English teacher Norman Buchan (later to be involved as editor/co-editor of two significant books of Scottish songs) before becoming a Labour MP.
But Norman was a close friend of Hamish and somehow or other we became aware of this wonderful song.

What I can say is that there are umpteen levels of appreciation of the lyrics -- as a teenager I understood some of the anger of the verses, but the subtleties almost certainly evaded me. And I can confirm that it was an ongoing process to put together my understanding of Hamish's vision.

BUT it was all worth it, to be able to sing a wonderful song of the affirmation of shared humanity.