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Description: | Verse 1: 'As over Gladsmuir's blood stain'd field, Scotia, Imperial Goddess flew; Her lifted spear and radiant shield Conspicuous, blazing to the view. Her visage lately clouded with despair, Now reassum'd its first majestic air.'
The 'Scots Musical Museum' is the most important of the numerous eighteenth- and nineteenth-century collections of Scottish song. When the engraver James Johnson started work on the second volume of his collection in 1787, he enlisted Robert Burns as contributor and editor. Burns enthusiastically collected songs from various sources, often expanding or revising them, whilst including much of his own work. The resulting combination of innovation and antiquarianism gives the work a feel of living tradition.
This song tells of the victory of Prince Charles Edward and the Jacobite forces over Sir John Cope and the Hanoverian forces at the Battle of Gladsmuir, on 21 September 1745. This particular battle is more familiarly known by many as the Battle of Prestonpans. It is believed that this ode was set to music by William McGibbon. John Cope features in two further songs included in the 'Museum', 'Tranent Muir' (song 102) and 'Johnie Cope' (song 234). | License: | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0 | Publisher: | National Library of Scotland | Temporal: | 1787-01-01 - 1803-12-31 | Source: | Burns Scotland | Identifier: | Volume III, song 202, pages 210 - 'Glads | Go to resource |
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