Harman Patil (Editor)

Ye Jacobites by Name

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"Ye Jacobites by Name" (Roud # 5517) is a traditional Scottish folk song which goes back to the Jacobite Risings in Scotland (1688–1746). While the original version simply attacked the Jacobites from a contemporaneous Whig point of view, Robert Burns rewrote it in around 1791 to give a version with a more general, humanist anti-war outlook. This is the version that most people know today.

Contents

The song (no. 371) was published in 1793 in volume 4 of James Johnson's Scots Musical Museum and in James Hogg's Jacobite Reliques of 1817 (no. 34). It also appears in a collection of Scottish songs entitled Personal Choice by Ewan MacColl. The tune is taken from "My Love's in Germany" by Hector Macneill.

Robert Burns's version

This is the version in Johnson's, Hogg's and MacColl's collections:

Recordings

Many musicians, including many international bands, have recorded Ye Jacobites, including:

  • The Johnstons, on The Barley Corn (1969)
  • The Corries, on Live at the Royal Lyceum (1971)
  • Tri Yann, on their debut album (1972)
  • Tempest, on Surfing To Mecca (1994) as "You Jacobites By Name"
  • Seven Nations (then known as Clan Na Gael), on Old Ground (1995)
  • Billy Bragg rewrote the lyrics to refer to "Thatcherites" on the EP Bloke on Bloke (1996)
  • Fiddler's Green, a German "Independent Irish Speed-Folk" band, on On and On (1997) as "Jacobites"
  • Connemara Stone Company, on For One Irland (1998)
  • Beth Patterson played a version of it using the Irish bouzouki on Hybrid Vigor (1999)
  • Eddi Reader, on The Songs Of Robert Burns (2003)
  • Shannon, a Polish Celtic music group, on Green Hypnosis (2003), as guitar ballad,
  • Quilty, a band from Sweden, on I'm Here Because I'm Here (2005)
  • Beltaine, a Polish Celtic music group, on KoncenTrad (2007)
  • Clachán, on Clachán (2008)
  • Sherwood, on Sweet Joan (2010)

    • References

    Ye Jacobites by Name Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA