Such a Parcel of Rogues in a Nation
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Scottish
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Transcription: by Darryl D. Bush
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Lyrics:
Fareweel to a' our Scottish fame
Fareweel our ancient glory
Fareweel e'en to the Scottish name
So famed in martial story
Now Sark runs to the Solway sands
And Tweed runs to the ocean
To mark where England's province stands
Such a parcel o' rogues in a nation.
What force or guile could not subdue
Through many warlike ages
Is wrought now by a coward few
For hireling traitor's wages
The English steel we could disdain
Secure in valour's station
But English gold has been our bane
Such a parcel o' rogues in a nation.
O would ere I had seen the day
That treason thus could sell us
My auld grey heid had lien in clay
Wi' Bruce and loyal Wallace
But pith and power till my last hour
I'll mak this declaration
We're bought and sold for English gold
Such a parcel o' rogues in a nation.
Such a Parcel of Rogues in a Nation was written by the famed poet Robert Burns in 1791.<br> He decried those members of the Parliament of Scotland who signed the Act of Union with<br> England in 1707, some of whom were said to have been bribed. Burns contrasted their supposed<br> treachery to the country with the tradition of martial valor and resistance commonly<br> associated with such historic figures as Robert the Bruce and William Wallace.<br> <br> Recorded by Ewan MacColl and, more recently, Steeleye Span. I learned it from the<br> Steeleye Span recording.<br>
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