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Updated
02/14/2018 |
Highland Laddie
Highland Laddie,
also known as Hielan'
Laddie, is the name
of an ancient Scottish
popular folk tune If
thou'lt play me fair
play, but as with
many old melodies,
various sets of words
can be sung to it and
Robert Burns' poem
'Highland Laddie,
Highland Lassie' has
been the most memorable.
Highland Regiments
raised in the 18th and
early 19th centuries
employed many unique
symbols to differentiate
themselves from other
regiments and enlisted
distinctive music to
announce their arrival,
but as a result of the
Cardwell Reforms of
1881, all British Army
Highland Regiments were
required to use
'Highland Laddie' as
their Regimental March.
Over time, many of these
regiments had managed to
return to their
pre-Cardwell marches
when, in 2005, the
establishment of the
Royal Regiment of
Scotland saw the
disappearance of all
Scotland's historic
infantry regiments and
their distinctions,
including music, and the
adoption of a new
Regimental March,
"Scotland the Brave".
Bill
Millin (shown above),
born 1923, commonly
known as Piper Bill, was
personal piper to Lord
Lovat, commander of 1
Special Service Brigade
at D-Day.
Millin is most famous
for being one of the few
pipers to play during a
World War II battle.
Pipers had traditionally
led Scottish troops into
battle however the death
toll among pipers in
World War I was so high
that the practice was
banned by the British
high command. Lord Lovat,
however, ignored these
orders and Millin, aged
21, played "Hielan'
Laddie" and "The Road to
the Isles" as his
comrades fell around him
on Sword Beach. He
played "The Brown-Haired
Maiden" as they were
leaving the beach and
making their way up to
the road because he
espied a young
brown-haired girl
peeking out to the lads
from a farmhouse and he
thought there would be
nothing better in this
world than to play her
that tune as they went
by. As
German soldiers later
attested, they did not
target Millin because
they believed him to be
mad.
This action was
portrayed in the 1962
film The Longest Day.
It is a common
misconception that
Millin played himself;
the actor was in fact
Pipe Major Leslie de
Laspee, the official
piper to the Queen
Mother in 1961.
Highland Laddie is also
the name of a dance in
Scottish Highland
dancing, of the
"national dance"
subtype. Unlike most
national dances, which
are usually danced in an
Aboyne dress, the
Highland Laddie is
danced in the standard
kilt-based outfit.
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Lyrics
As
in the case of most
traditional Scottish
folk songs, Highland
Laddie can be sung with
lyrics. One version of
the tune's ancient
lyrics, which obviously
has much to do with
Bonnie Prince Charlie's
Jacobite Rising, goes:
Where ha' ye
been a' the day?
Bonnie laddie,
Hielan' laddie
Saw ye him that'
far awa'
Bonnie laddie,
Hielan' laddie
On his head a
bonnet blue
Bonnie laddie,
Hielan' laddie
Tartan plaid and
Hielan' trews
Bonnie laddie,
Hielan' laddie |
When he drew his
gude braid-sword
Then he gave his
royal word.
Frae the field
he ne'er wad
flee
Wi' his friends
wad live or dee.
Geordie sits in
Charlie's chair
But I think
he'll no bide
there.
Charlie yet
shall mount the
throne
Weel ye ken it
is his own |
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There is
yet another version, apparently originated from
Britain's colonial dates in America:
Was you ever in
Quebec?
Bonny laddie, Highland laddie,
Loading timber on the deck,
My bonny Highland laddie.
High-ho, and away she
goes,
Bonny laddie, Highland laddie,
High-ho, and away she goes,
My bonny Highland laddie.
Was you ever in Callao
Where the girls are never slow? |
Was you ever in
Baltimore
Dancing on the sanded floor?
Was you ever in Mobile Bay,
Screwing cotton by the day?
Was you on the Brummalow,
Where Yankee boys are all the go? |
Bonny
Laddie, Highland Laddie Beethoven No.7 (for
Violin and Cello) Four Verses:
Where got ye that
siller moon, bonny laddie, highland
laddie,
Glinting braw your bell a boon, bonny
laddie, highland laddie?
Belted plaid and bonnet blue, bonny
laddie, highland laddie,
Have yet been at Waterloo, bonny laddie,
highland laddie?
Weels me on your
tartan trews, bonny laddie, highland
laddie,
Tell me, tell me, a’ the news, bonny
laddie, highland laddie!
Saw ye Bonny by the way, bonny laddie,
highland laddie?
Bucher wi’ his beard sae grey, bonny
laddie highland laddie? |
Or
that doure and deadly Duke, bonny laddie,
highland laddie,
Scatt’ring Frenchmen wi’ his look, bonny
laddie, highland laddie?
Some say he the day may rue, bonny
laddie, highland laddie,
Ye can tell gin this be true, bonny
laddie, highland laddie.
Would yet tell me gin
ye ken, bonny laddie, highland laddie,
Aught o’ Donald and his men, bonny
laddie, highland laddie?
Tell me o’ my kilted Clan, bonny laddie,
highland laddie,
Gin they fought, or gin they ran, bonny
laddie, highland laddie? |
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