Wha'll be King but Charlie
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Scottish
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Transcription: by Darryl D. Bush
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Lyrics:
The news fraw Moidart cam' yestreen
Will soon gar mony ferlie;
For ships o' war hae just come in,
And landit Royal Charlie?
Chorus
Come thro' the heather, around him gather,
Ye're a' the welcomer early;
Around him cling wi' a' your kin;
For wha'll be king but Charlie?
Come thro' the heather, around him gather,
Come Ronald, come Donald, come a' thegither,
And crown your rightfu' lawfu' king!
For wha'll be king but Charlie.
The Hieland clans, wi sword in hand,
Frae John o' Groats' to Airlie,
Hae to a man declared to stand
Or fa' wi' Royal Charlie.
Chorus
The Lowlands a', baith great an' sma,
Wi' mony a lord and laird, hae
Declar'd for Scotia's king an' law,
An' speir ye wha but Charlie.
Chorus
There's ne'er a lass in a' the lan',
But vows baith late an' early,
She'll ne'er to man gie heart nor han'
Wha wadna fecht for Charlie.
Chorus
Then here's a health to Charlie's cause,
And be't complete an' early;
His very name out heart's blood warms;
To arms for Royal Charlie!
Chorus
"Wha'll (Who'll) be King but Charlie", in Gaelic "Se 'n Righ a th' again is fhèarr leinn"<br> ("We prefer our own King") also known as "Behind the Bush in the Garden" (an Irish jig version<br> usually played with the A & B parts reversed), "Come Together", "Cha Dean Mi'n Obair",<br> "I Won't Do the Work" (jig), "I Sat in the Valley Green", "More Power to Ye",<br> "Over the River to Charlie" (in Pa.), "Royal Charlie" or "Times are Mighty Hard" is a<br> Scottish air, quickstep and jig (6/8 time) in C Major (Carlin, Fraser, Martin) or D Major (Kerr,<br> McLachlan). The parts are played one part (Hardie), AB (Carlin, Fraser, Howe, Martin),<br> AAB (McLachlan) or ABB' (Kerr).<br> "Wha'll be King" has been called a "grand old Jacobite rallying song". This<br> optimistic Jacobite song and tune (beginning "Wha'll be King but Charlie, the news frae Moidar<br> cam' yestreen") has sometimes erroneously been attributed to Scottish fiddler Niel Gow.<br> Bayard (1981) identifies the lyrics as anonymously<br> composed, while the tune is, in its earliest printing, Captain Simon Fraser's "We Prefer Our<br> Own King" ("Se'n Righ atha ahuin is fear linn"). Dunlay & Greenberg (1996) believe the setting<br> of the tune in Kerr probably comes from Gale’s Pocket Companion (c. 1800) and that a related<br> setting in C Major can be found in the Edinburg Repository of Music (1825).<br> "Wha’ll be King" appears in The Songs of Scotland (1877) complete with Scots verses.<br> John Rook, a multi-instrumentalist from Waverton, Cumbria, entered it into his 1840 music<br> manuscript collection, as did American musician M.E. Ames into his 1850 music copybook.<br> It was printed in Carlin's Master Collection (1984),<br> Fraser's The Airs and Melodies Peculiar to the Highlands of Scotland and the Isles (1816),<br> Hardie's Caledonian Companion (1992),<br> Howe's 1000 Jigs and Reels (c. 1867),<br> Kerr's Merry Melodies, vol. 1 (c. 1880),<br> Manson's Hamilton’s Universal Tune Book vol. 1 (1853),<br> Manson's Hamilton's Universal Tune Book vol. 2 (1854),<br> Martin's Traditional Scottish Fiddling (2002) and<br> McLachlan's The Piper's Assistant (1854) (quickstep).<br> It was recorded by Silly Wizard on A Glint of Silver (1986) and<br> Abby Newton on Castles, Kirks and Caves (2001).<br>
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