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Vivas Schola Regia, officially Scholae Regiae Edinensis Carmen, is the song of the Royal High School of Edinburgh. The Latin lyrics were written by the Rector, Dr. John Marshall, in 1895, and set to music by Sir Alexander Mackenzie, a former pupil of the school. James Trotter comments on Marshall's character and influence: 'The spirit which inspired him is well exhibited in his “Song of the High School.”'
The first two verses are sung with the refrain at the end of the annual school session, on the Commemoration and Prize Giving Day each July. The third line, 'sicut arx in colle sita' ('like a citadel placed on a hill': this is the literal meaning, not the one that Marshall used in his English translation) refers both to the situation of the school building on the slopes of Calton Hill and to the school crest, which shows a turreted castle on a rock.
The school song, along with the centenary hymn, Nisi Dominus Frustra (words by J.C. Stewart, music by Charles H. F. O'Brien), is one of two well-known musical compositions the school has produced. It has been learnt by generations of Royal High Scholars, and the cultural historian John Bruce Barclay relates a well-known anecdote that testifies to its general currency: 'During the darkest period of the Second World War a watch on board a ship in a middle-east harbour was pacing the deck when he suddenly heard in the darkness the watch on another ship whistling a tune. It was familiar. It was the School song. The solo became a duet but neither man saw the other.'
Marshall also composed an English version: