"The Wee German Lairdie" | |
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Song | |
Language | Scots |
Written | Late 18th or early 19th century |
"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. [2] 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. [3] James Hogg, however, mentions "an older collection" in the first volume of his 1819 compilation The Jacobite Relics of Scotland . [4]
According to The Jacobite Relics, the song was "sung to many different tunes in different districts of the kingdom". Hogg claimed that the most popular tune at the time was the one written by him, but printed alongside it an older tune which he described as "more in character". [5]
The Jacobites had been present in Britain and Ireland since the deposition of James VII & II of Stuart for William III & II of Orange-Nassau, the former being a convert to Catholicism, to the antipathy of ardent protestants in English parliament. [6] Along with Catholics all across the realm, the cause for a continued Stuart monarchy became particularly popular in Scotland, [7] whence that house originated. Recovering from an infamous massacre of dissenters, defeats in battle, and laws put in place to restrict Catholicism in the kingdoms and from the crown, the Jacobite standard was raised once again in 1714 on the ascension of George I to the British and Irish thrones. [8]
The elector of Hanover, George I came from the Holy Roman Empire to a new land of which he was now king, was alleged to have spoken only a minimal amount of English. [9] [10] The song suggests he was an avid gardener, something that isn't commonly (if at all) attested of him in surviving literature.
The notion of the song ridiculing George I in particular comes from its mid-19th century publications and commentary thereof. [11] [12] [13] Though unlikely, the time between the death of George I in 1727 and the song's first verified written appearance in 1810 suggests the possibility of it actually being about said king's son and successor, George II, involved in the Jacobite Rising of 1745.
The following Scots original is the song as it appears in James Hogg's Jacobite Relics of Scotland. [14]
Scots (original) 18th or early 19th century | English (translation) 21st century |
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A Jacobite is a follower of someone named Jacob or James, from the Latin Jācōbus. Jacobite or Jacobitism may refer to:
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).
Allan Cunningham was a Scottish poet and author.
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.
Nithsdale, also known as Strathnith, Stranith or Stranit, is the strath or dale of the River Nith in southern Scotland. Nithsdale was one of the medieval provinces of Scotland. The provinces gradually lost their administrative importance to the shires created from the twelfth century, with Nithsdale forming part of Dumfriesshire. A Nithsdale district covering a similar area to the medieval province was created in 1975, based in the area's main town of Dumfries. The district was abolished in 1996, since when the area has been directly administered by Dumfries and Galloway Council.
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William Gordon, 6th Viscount of Kenmure and Lord Lochinvar was a Scottish Jacobite.
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"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.
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