"Such a Parcel of Rogues in a Nation" is a Scottish folk song whose lyrics are taken from a poem written by Robert Burns in 1791, listed as number 5516 in the Roud Folk Song Index. It has continued to be associated with Scottish nationalism and also been referenced in other situations where politicians' actions have gone against popular opinion.
In 1695, an Act of the Scottish Parliament set up the "Company of Scotland Trading in Africa and the Indies" generally just called the Company of Scotland. Although the Act limited investors to a maximum of £3,000, simple maths shows that the investors found a way around this and on average invested £35,000 each (around £4 million in modern terms). A total of £400,000 was raised.
The main venture undertaken was the disastrous Darien Scheme, a very ill-advised idea to colonise Panama. Although the investors and shareholders had in effect lost everything by the start of 1699, the over-optimism and distances involved meant that money continued to be poured into an already pointless venture. The main investors, some 30 in number, were Scots or ex-Scots living in London. [1] In the early 1700s a plan was devised, partly within the group, and partly with the necessary politicians, to reimburse the investors 100% of their loss (plus a small bonus) if (but only if) they negotiated the relinquishing of the Scottish Parliament and passed all parliamentary powers to England. If the 40 signatories to the Act of Union of 1707 are compared to those of the Company of Scotland the "rogues" can be identified. [2] These include:
Scottish politicians signing the Act were:
Other shareholders compensated (but not signing the Act of Union) included:
One Englishman was a member of the Company of Scotland and signatory to the Act, and certainly under modern rules would be deemed to have an unacceptable personal interest and motive in the Act:
"Such a Parcel of Rogues in a Nation" was written by Scotland's National poet Robert Burns in 1791. [3] He decried those members of the Parliament of Scotland who signed the Act of Union with England in 1707. Burns contrasted their treachery to the country with the tradition of martial valour and resistance commonly associated with such historic figures as Robert the Bruce and William Wallace. The poet states that he wished to have lain in the grave with Bruce or Wallace, rather than having seen this treacherous sale of Scotland were it in his own lifetime.
The melody and lyrics were published in volume 1 of James Hogg's Jacobite Reliques of 1819 (no. 36). [4]
The song was revived in the 20th century by Ewan MacColl, whose recording of it can be found on the collection The Real MacColl. Steeleye Span later included it under the name "Rogues in a Nation" on their album, Parcel of Rogues , and it has been covered by numerous other musicians, including The Corries, Alastair McDonald, Jean Redpath, The Dubliners (Luke Kelly), Dick Gaughan, Makem and Clancy, Hamish Imlach, Old Blind Dogs, The Delgados, Jesse Ferguson—The Bard of Cornwall and Heelster Gowdie.
A spoken word version was recorded by Bill Drummond of The KLF as the closer of his solo album, The Man (1986).
The song's lyrics are in Lowlands Scots.
The Acts of Union refer to two Acts of Parliament, one by the Parliament of England in 1706, the other by the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. They put into effect the Treaty of Union agreed on 22 July 1706, which combined the previously separate Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland into a single Kingdom of Great Britain. The Acts took effect on 1 May 1707, creating the Parliament of Great Britain, based in the Palace of Westminster.
The Scottish Enlightenment was the period in 18th- and early-19th-century Scotland characterised by an outpouring of intellectual and scientific accomplishments. By the eighteenth century, Scotland had a network of parish schools in the Scottish Lowlands and five universities. The Enlightenment culture was based on close readings of new books, and intense discussions which took place daily at such intellectual gathering places in Edinburgh as The Select Society and, later, The Poker Club, as well as within Scotland's ancient universities.
James Hogg was a Scottish poet, novelist and essayist who wrote in both Scots and English. As a young man he worked as a shepherd and farmhand, and was largely self-educated through reading. He was a friend of many of the great writers of his day, including Sir Walter Scott, of whom he later wrote an unauthorised biography. He became widely known as the "Ettrick Shepherd", a nickname under which some of his works were published, and the character name he was given in the widely read series Noctes Ambrosianae, published in Blackwood's Magazine. He is best known today for his novel The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner. His other works include the long poem The Queen's Wake (1813), his collection of songs Jacobite Relics (1819), and his two novels The Three Perils of Man (1822), and The Three Perils of Woman (1823).
Scottish literature is literature written in Scotland or by Scottish writers. It includes works in English, Scottish Gaelic, Scots, Brythonic, French, Latin, Norn or other languages written within the modern boundaries of Scotland.
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.
The Company of Scotland Trading to Africa and the Indies, also called the Scottish Darien Company, was an overseas trading company created by an Act of the Parliament of Scotland in 1695. The Act granted the Company a monopoly of Scottish trade to India, Africa and the Americas, extraordinary sovereign rights and 21 years of exemptions from taxation.
James Erskine, Lord Grange was a Scottish advocate, judge and politician. He served as Lord Justice Clerk and a Lord of Justiciary.
The Treaty of Union is the name usually now given to the treaty which led to the creation of the new state of Great Britain. The treaty united the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland to be "United into One Kingdom by the Name of Great Britain". At the time it was more often referred to as the Articles of Union.
David Boyle, 1st Earl of Glasgow was a Scottish politician and peer. He was the last Treasurer-depute before the Union with England.
"Both sides the Tweed" is a song about the Treaty of Union between Scotland and England. Dick Gaughan made minor changes to the words and added his own tune. The song was written in 1979 and first appeared on Gaughan's 1981 album Handful of Earth. Though Gaughan's recording was embraced by music critics at the time, the song achieved wide popularity only later when it was recorded by the Scottish group Capercaillie on their album Sidewaulk.
Events from the year 1706 in the Kingdom of Scotland.
"Ye Jacobites by Name" is a traditional Scottish folk song which goes back to the Jacobite risings in Scotland (1688–1746). While the original version simply attacked the Jacobites from a contemporaneous Whig point of view, Robert Burns rewrote it in around 1791 to give a version with a more general, humanist anti-war, but nonetheless anti-Jacobite outlook. This is the version that most people know today and has been performed and recorded by Scottish folk groups such as The Corries and The McCalmans
Cock Up Your Beaver is a song and poem by Robert Burns, written in 1792. It is written in Scottish dialect and the beaver refers to a gentleman's hat in an era when all high quality men's hats were made of felted beaver fur.
Parcel of Rogues is the fifth studio album by English folk rock group Steeleye Span. It was released in 1973 by Chrysalis Records. The album was their most successful album thus far, breaking into the Top 30.
Scottish literature in the eighteenth century is literature written in Scotland or by Scottish writers in the eighteenth century. It includes literature written in English, Scottish Gaelic and Scots, in forms including poetry, drama and novels. After the Union in 1707 Scottish literature developed a distinct national identity. Allan Ramsay led a "vernacular revival", the trend for pastoral poetry and developed the Habbie stanza. He was part of a community of poets working in Scots and English who included William Hamilton of Gilbertfield, Robert Crawford, Alexander Ross, William Hamilton of Bangour, Alison Rutherford Cockburn, and James Thomson. The eighteenth century was also a period of innovation in Gaelic vernacular poetry. Major figures included Rob Donn Mackay, Donnchadh Bàn Mac an t-Saoir, Uillean Ross and Alasdair mac Mhaighstir Alasdair, who helped inspire a new form of nature poetry. James Macpherson was the first Scottish poet to gain an international reputation, claiming to have found poetry written by Ossian. Robert Burns is widely regarded as the national poet.
Robert Blackwood of Pitreavie (1624–1720) was a 17th century Scottish silk merchant who served as Lord Provost of Edinburgh from 1711 to 1713.
Sir Patrick Johnston (1650–1736) of Edinburgh was a Scottish merchant and politician who sat in the Parliament of Scotland from 1702 to 1707 and as a Whig in the British House of Commons between 1707 and 1713. He was Lord Provost of Edinburgh three times from 1700 to 1702, from 1704 to 1706, and from 1708 to 1710.
Sir Robert Chieslie of Dalry was a Scottish merchant who served as Lord Provost of Edinburgh from 1694 to 1696.
"The Wee German Lairdie" is a Scottish folk song that is probably about George I of Great Britain. The king, ridiculed in this song, assumed power to the discontent of the Jacobite rebels, who instead recognised James Francis Edward Stuart as king, from the formerly ruling House of Stuart. Though taking place around 1715, the song first appears in writing in 1810, in Robert Cromek and Allan Cunningham's Remains of Nithsdale and Galloway Song, recalling a song of several versions that was allegedly sung prior. James Hogg, however, mentions "an older collection" in the first volume of his 1819 compilation The Jacobite Relics of Scotland.
