It Was A' For Our Rightful King

Last updated
Robert Burns set the words to an older tune. PG 1063Burns Naysmith.jpg
Robert Burns set the words to an older tune.

"It Was A' For Our Rightful King" (or "It was All For Our Rightful King") is a traditional Jacobite song. The words were written by Robert Burns and published in 1796. [1] It is set to an older tune "Mally Stewart". It was included in the 1817 collection Jacobite Relics . Although dating from after the main period of Jacobite activity, it became a standard during the nostalgic Jacobite era of the nineteenth century.

It describes a Scottish supporter of King James taking up arms in support of the cause, going to Ireland to fight and thereafter going into exile after the failure of the campaign in Ireland. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacobitism</span> 17/18th-century British political ideology supporting the restoration of the House of Stuart

Jacobitism was a political movement that supported the restoration of the senior line of the House of Stuart to the British throne. The name derives from the first name of James II of England, which is rendered in Latin as Jacobus. When James went into exile after the November 1688 Glorious Revolution, the Parliament of England decided that he had abandoned the English throne, which they offered to his Protestant daughter Mary II of England, and her husband William III. In April, the Scottish Convention held that James "forfeited" the throne of Scotland by his actions, listed in the Articles of Grievances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Francis Edward Stuart</span> Jacobite pretender (1688–1766)

James Francis Edward Stuart, nicknamed the Old Pretender by Whigs and the King over the Water by Jacobites, was the son of King James VII and II of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and his second wife, Mary of Modena. He was Prince of Wales from July 1688 until, just months after his birth, his Catholic father was deposed and exiled in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. James II's Protestant elder daughter Mary II and her husband William III became co-monarchs. The Bill of Rights 1689 and Act of Settlement 1701 excluded Catholics such as James from the English and British thrones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Graham, 1st Viscount Dundee</span> Scottish general (1648–1689)

John Graham, 7th of Claverhouse, 1st Viscount Dundee was a Scottish soldier and nobleman, a Tory and an Episcopalian. He was responsible for policing southwest Scotland during and after the religious unrest and rebellion of the late 17th century, and went on to lead the Jacobite rising of 1689.

Jacobite Relics is a two volume collection of songs related to the Jacobite risings, compiled by the Scottish poet and novelist James Hogg on commission from the Highland Society of London in 1817. Most of the songs in the collection are Jacobite, and a minority are Whig. A number of the songs were written or adapted by Robert Burns and scholars speculate as to how many of them were authored or at least substantially altered by Hogg himself.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baron Macdonald</span> Title in the Peerage of Ireland

Baron Macdonald, of Slate in the County of Antrim, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1776 for Sir Alexander Macdonald, 9th Baronet, of Sleat. The Macdonald family of Sleat descends from Uisdean Macdonald, also known as Hugh of Sleat, or Hugh Macdonald, who was an illegitimate son of Alexander Macdonald, Earl of Ross. On 28 May 1625, his great-great-great-great-grandson Donald Gorm Og Macdonald was created a baronet, of Sleat in the Isle of Skye in the County of Inverness, in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia. The baronetcy was created with remainder to heirs male whatsoever and with a special clause of precedence which provided that it should have precedency over all former baronets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pretender</span> Someone who claims to be rightful holder of a throne that is vacant or held by another

A pretender is someone who claims to be the rightful ruler of a country although not recognized as such by the current government. The term is often used to suggest that a claim is not legitimate. The word may refer to a former monarch or a descendant of a deposed monarchy, although this type of claimant is also referred to as a head of a house.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carolina Nairne</span>

Carolina Oliphant, Lady Nairne – also known as Carolina Baroness Nairn in the peerage of Scotland and Baroness Keith in that of the United Kingdom – was a Scottish songwriter. Many of her songs, such as, "Will ye no' come back again?", "Charlie is my Darling", "The Rowan Tree" and "Wi' a Hundred Pipers' remain popular today, almost two hundred years after they were written. One of her songs, "Caller Herrin'", was sung at the 2021 commemoration of the 1881 Eyemouth disaster. She usually set her words to traditional Scottish folk melodies, but sometimes contributed her own music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Williamite War in Ireland</span> 1689–91 conflict

The Williamite War in Ireland took place from March 1689 to October 1691. Fought between supporters of James II and his successor, William III, it resulted in a Williamite victory. It is generally viewed as a related conflict of the 1688 to 1697 Nine Years' War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacobite succession</span> Post-1688 claim of succession of the British crowns

The Jacobite succession is the line through which Jacobites believed that the crowns of England, Scotland, and Ireland should have descended, applying primogeniture, since the deposition of James II and VII in 1688 and his death in 1701. It is in opposition to the legal line of succession to the British throne since that time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Cromdale</span> Battle at the Haughs of Cromdale on 30 April and 1 May 1690

The Battle of Cromdale took place at the Haughs of Cromdale on 30 April and 1 May 1690. The site is on a hillside near the village of Cromdale, Strathspey, historically within the county of Inverness-shire. The battlefield has been included in the Inventory of Historic Battlefields in Scotland and protected by Historic Scotland under the Scottish Historical Environment Policy of 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Sheriffmuir</span> Engagement in 1715 at the height of the Jacobite rising in England

The Battle of Sheriffmuir was an engagement in 1715 at the height of the Jacobite rising in England and Scotland. The battlefield has been included in the Inventory of Historic Battlefields in Scotland and protected by Historic Scotland under the Scottish Historical Environment Policy of 2009. Sheriffmuir is a remote elevated plateau of heathland lying between Stirling and Auchterarder on the north fringe of the Ochil Hills.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clan Maclachlan</span> Highland Scottish clan

Clan Maclachlan, also known as Clan Lachlan, Clann Lachainn (Argyll), and Clann Lachlainn, is a Highland Scottish clan that historically centred on the lands of Strathlachlan on Loch Fyne, Argyll on the west coast of Scotland. The clan claims descent from Lachlan Mor, who lived on Loch Fyne in the 13th century, and who has left his name upon the countryside he once controlled: places such as Strathlachlan, Castle Lachlan and Lachlan Bay. Tradition gives Lachlan Mor a descent from an Irish prince of the O'Neill dynasty, Ánrothán Ua Néill, son of Áed, son of Flaithbertach Ua Néill, King of Ailech and Cenél nEógain, died 1036. Clan Maclachlan has been associated with other clans, such as Clan Lamont, Clan Ewen of Otter, Clan MacNeil of Barra, and the MacSweens: as all claim descent from Anrothan O'Neill who left Ireland for Kintyre in the 11th century. From this descent the clan claims a further descent from the legendary Niall Noigíallach, High King of Ireland, who lived from the mid 4th century to the early 5th century.

The Treaty of Fontainebleau was a 1745 treaty in which France committed itself to support the Jacobite rising of 1745.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Convention of Estates (1689)</span>

The 1689 Convention of Estates sat between 16 March 1689 and 5 June 1689 to determine the settlement of the Scottish throne, following the deposition of James VII in the 1688 Glorious Revolution. The Convention of the Estates of Scotland was a sister-institution to Parliament, comprising the three estates of bishops, barons and representatives of the Burghs. Historically, it had been summoned by the king of Scots for the limited purpose of raising taxes, and could not pass other legislation. Unlike the English Convention Parliament of 1689, the 1689 Scottish Convention was also a contest for control of the Church of Scotland or Kirk.

Jacobite consorts are those who were married to a Jacobite pretender to the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland since the abdication of James II in 1688. By Jacobites they are thus regarded, if female, as rightful Queens Consort of England, Scotland and Ireland. Since the death of Marie-Jenke, Duchess of Bavaria in 1983, there has been no Jacobite consort; the current pretender, Franz, Duke of Bavaria, is not married.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacobite rising of 1745</span> Attempt by the House of Stuart to regain the British throne

The Jacobite rising of 1745 was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the British throne for his father, James Francis Edward Stuart. It took place during the War of the Austrian Succession, when the bulk of the British Army was fighting in mainland Europe, and proved to be the last in a series of revolts that began in March 1689, with major outbreaks in 1715 and 1719.

The term invasion of England may refer to the following planned or actual invasions of what is now modern England, successful or otherwise.

The Clare's Regiment, later known as Clare's Dragoons, was initially named O'Brien's Regiment after its originator Daniel O'Brien, 3rd Viscount Clare raised a mounted dragoon regiment during the Jacobite war. When Clare's Dragoons left Limerick with the Flight of the Wild Geese they became a regiment of infantry. Clare's Dragoons remained loyal to the dethroned James II of England and fought against the army of William III of England, during the Williamite War in Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poetry of Scotland</span> Poetry written within the boundaries of modern Scotland

Poetry of Scotland includes all forms of verse written in Brythonic, Latin, Scottish Gaelic, Scots, French, English and Esperanto and any language in which poetry has been written within the boundaries of modern Scotland, or by Scottish people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clan Carruthers</span>

Carruthers, a Scottish Lowland clan and family from Annandale in Dumfriesshire.

References

  1. Carruthers & Kidd p.136
  2. Bold .347

Bibliography