Quote:
Originally Posted by TheBlueRaja
And the verse in God save the queen is?
Lord grant that Marshal Wade
May by thy mighty aid
Victory bring.
May he sedition hush,
And like a torrent rush,
Rebellious Scots to crush.
God save the Queen!
National Anthem?
Lets see Flute music, flag parades, bigoted songs, Nazi Salutes.
Flute music on its own is not a major issue in my eyes, but put all the crap together and its obvious what the connotations are and why there is flute music in the first place.
I'm stunned people are attempting to defend this.
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Don't get me wrong, I'm not attempting to defend Nazi salutes by anyone, anywhere. I'm just picking up on your wider point about sectarianism in Scottish football. The question I want to put is, where do you draw the line?
History is history. We can't change it but we can learn from it. I challenge you, for example, to document for me any occasion in the recent past when that verse of the national anthem has been used (by which I mean official occasion, not at a lunatic fringe meeting of the Home Rule for England Campaign). In fact, if you can show me a hymn or other song book currently in print that even includes that verse for use I would be extremely surprised.
The fact that there was once an anti-Scottish verse in the national anthem is as meaningless in current politics as the fact that William Wallace once went on a wrecking weekend in York. They are both simply historical curiosities that have no bearing on the present other than as a useful reminder that we don't need to do that sort of thing any more.
What is more interesting is how sectarianism and rivalry is currently expressed. Nobody sings 'Rebellious Scots to crush' any more, but they sing 'Send them homewards to think again' in their tens of thousands. It might be argued that the intended context is a sporting one but the SNP would certainly disagree with that idea, especially as they still have an annual jamboree at Bannockburn which includes a wistful rendition of Flower of Scotland.
The point is, how far do you allow groups of people to express their identity in terms of their origins and significant historical events, even at the expense of some mild offence on the part of those on the recieving end? Is the flute music and associated gubbins intended to incite, or is it simply a strong espression of tribal identity? Is Flower of Scotland intended to incite hatred of the English or is it simply the product of centuries of sibling rivalry?
Incidentally, and slightly off topic, Flower of Scotland doesn't get me mad, it just makes me a bit sad. I live in Scotland and I love it here and I think there are ten thousand positive Scottish things Scots could sing about, rather than choosing to define themselves by reference to England.