Annotation:Scotland Yet
X:1 T:Scotland Yet M:C L:1/8 R:Strathspey S:Kerr – Merry Melodies, vol. 4, No. 36 (c. 1880’s) Z:AK/Fiddler’s Companion K:D A|F<D A>F d>BG>B|A<F F>D (E2 E)G|F<D A>F d>BB>d|c<e E>^G (A2A2):| |:A|d>Ae>A f>ed>f|e>d c<B (A2 A)G|F<A d>A f>dB>d|A<d f>e (d2d):|
SCOTLAND YET. Scottish; Air, March (4/4 time) or Strathspey. C Major (Neil): D Major (Kerr). Standard tuning (fiddle). One part (Neil): AABB (Kerr). The melody was composed by the amateur composer Peter McLeod, who lived at Bonnington, near Edinburgh, from 1797 to 1859, to fervent, patriotic words by Henry Scott Ridell (1798-1870) of Dumfriesshire, a native of Sorbie, north of Langholm. Ridell became a minister in Teviotside and a translator of the Bible into Lowland Scots. He authored the words "Scotland Yet" in 1834 while out for a walk in a lonely glen in Teviothead, later set to music by McLeod. The song, which has become a Scottish favorite, was published in McLeod's Original National Melodies of Scotland (1838, pp. 8-12). It was also issued by Riddel on a single sheet issue, the author donating the proceeds from his song to defray the cost of an ornamental railing round the monument in Edinburgh to poet Robert Burns. Riddell's words begin:
Gae, bring my guid auld harp ance mair,
Gae, bring it free and fast;
For I maun sing anither sang
Ere a' my glee be past.
And trow ye as I sing, my lads,
The burden o't shall be,
Auld Scotland's howes, and Scotland's knowes,
And Scotland's hills for me;
I'll drink a cup to Scotland yet,
Wi' a' the honours three.