Selected for 24
June
The forces of Robert the Bruce defeated the army of Edward II at Bannockburn on June 24th, 1314, thus restoring Scottish
sovereignty. It was an anniversary important to Robert Burns and to many Scots. Like 'La Marseillaise', it addresses contemporary
issues by evoking past events. In this stirring battle-cry of a poem, the poet, never more conscious of his bardic role, was
clearly appealing to 1790's radical and patriotic sentiment by reminding his countrymen and women of a previous act of collective
resistance. Burns had set his propagandist verses to an old drinking song. His call to arms survived almost all of his interfering
editor's attempts to sweeten its tune and tone down its politics, emerging as something of an informal 'national anthem',
which it remains to this day.
Donny O'Rourke
