Origins: Battle of Falkirk Muir/Up&Run Awa, Hawley

Subject: RE: Origins: Song on the Battle of Falkirk Muir
From: GUEST,email from Freeman Taylor
Date: 05 Sep 22 - 12:50 AM

To: [e-mail]
Cc: [e-mail], [e-mail]
Subject: Small error

? a charaidh choir,

Chunnaic mi mearachd beg air do “website” ann “Up and Run Awa, Hawley”
Oir tha mo Ghaidhlig a-mach à cleachdadh, ’s cha neil mi cinnte ma gum bidh Gaidhlig agat, bidh mi a’scriobhadh as Bheurla anois.

( Noble friend,
I saw a small error on your website in “Up and Run Awa, Hawley.”
Because my Gaelic is out of practice, and I don’t know if you speak it, I will write in English now. )

One of the downsides of the Net is that mistakes tend to spread and proliferate due to cutting and pasting w/o proofing or prior knowledge or research. In this instance, your lyrics (and many others!) have an error I have seen time and again.
In verse 2, the song refers to “General Hurst that battle busk that prime o' warriors a’”

This was probably a typo someone made in the process of copying the lyrics. The officer in question was actually Major General John Huske, General Henry (“Hanging”) Hawley’s deputy at Falkirk Muir. He led 4000 men of the Government forces.
(See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Falkirk_Muir#Background )

For the Battlefield version of the lyrics, see the Battlefield Band site, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Falkirk_Muir

Brian McNeil (of Battlefield) did a great job, but he did not know the tune for the song, so he substituted a Breton tune he had picked up from a Breton band he was playing with at the time. The tune he used is called “Le Corsair’s” (The pirate), but it was originally sung to the tune of “Up and Waur A’ Willie” or “Cameron’s Got His Wife Again.”
Le gach durachd math,

Seamus mac-an-tailleur

Subject: RE: Origins: Song on the Battle of Falkirk Muir
From: Joe Offer
Date: 05 Sep 22 - 01:09 AM

Any other corrections to the lyrics in the Digital Tradition?

Here's the Battlefield Band recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02pAyUUqro8

Subject: DT Correction: Battle of Falkirk Muir
From: Joe Offer
Date: 05 Sep 22 - 01:22 AM

Here are the lyrics from the Digital Tradition, with the suggested correction:

BATTLE OF FALKIRK MUIR (DT Lyrics)

Up and run awa', Hawley, up and run awa'
The filabegs are comin' doon to gie your lugs a claw.
Young Charlie's face at Dunipace has gi'ed your mou' a thraw, Hawley
Blasting sight for bastard wight, the worst that e'er he saw!

Hielan' Geordie's at your tail, wi' Drummond, Perth and a'
(run awa')

Ere ye saw the bonnets blue down frae the Torwood draw
A wisp in need did ye bestead - perhaps you needed twa!
General Hurst Huske that battle busk that prime o' warriors a', Hawley,
Whip and spur he thrust afar as fast as he could ga'

I hae but just ae word to say and ye maun hear it a',
We came to charge wi' sword and targe and nae to hunt ava',
When we came down aboun the town and saw nae faes at a',
We couldna half believe the truth that ye had left us a'!

Nae man bedeen believed his e'en till your brave back he saw, Hawley,
Bastard brat o' foreign cat had neither pluck nor paw,
We didna ken, but ye were men wha fight for foreign law,
Hey, fill your wame wi' brose at hame, it fits ye best of a'.

The very frown o' Hielan' loon, it gart ye drop the jaw,
Happ'd the face of a' disgrace and sickened Southron maw,
The very gleam o' Hielan' flame it puts you in a thaw,
Gae back and kiss your Daddy's miss, you're nane but cowards a'!

Up and scour awa', Hawley, up and scour awa'!
The Hielan' dirk is at your doup and that's the Hielan' law
Hielan Geordie's at your tail, wi' Drummond, Perth and a'
Had you but stayed wi' ladies maid, an hour and maybe twa,
Your bacon bouk and bastard snout, ye might have saved them a'!

Note: Getting the words for this one stumped me until I found a
book in the university library of border ballads & songs of the
Rebellion &c organised by battles. The Battlefield Band
have taken many liberties with the metre, but the words are the
same. WOOF

Recorded by Battlefield Band, Opening Moves
@Scottish @battle
filename[ FALKIRK
WOOF

Here is the Traditional Ballad Index entry, which doesn't help much:

Battle of Falkirk Muir, The

DESCRIPTION: "Up and rin away', Hawley (x2), The philabegs are coming down." "Young Charlie" has given Hawley's army a thrashing. The song insults the Hannoverian troops and describes how the Jacobites won a very close battle
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1821 (Hogg)
KEYWORDS: cowardice battle Jacobite
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
Jan 17, 1746 - Battle of Falkirk won by Jacobite forces (see "The Battle of Falkirk 1746" at the BritishBattles site).
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
ADDITIONAL: Michael Brander, _Scottish and Border Battles and Ballads_, 1975 (page references to the 1993 Barnes & Noble edition), pp. 213-214, "The Battle of Falkirk Muir" (1 text)
ST MBra213 (Partial)
File: MBra213

---

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography

The Ballad Index Copyright 2022 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.

With the exception of the one corrected name, the DT lyrics are very close to those in this recording by the Battlefield Band: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02pAyUUqro8

Subject: RE: Origins: Battle of Falkirk Muir/Up&Run Awa, Hawley
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 06 Sep 22 - 08:30 AM

This Battlefield Band recording is currently available https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRhoUNt-I6o