As someone of mixed Scottish and English heritage who was brought up in a town with a large population of people with a Scottish background, I found Rory Scothorne’s article interesting (An independent Scotland would need a national anthem – but what would it be?, 9 April). But he does not make clear enough the main problem with Flower of Scotland. It is about a battle that took place nearly 700 years ago, when the Scottish king beat the English one. It is blatantly anti-English. This is also one of the main problems with Scottish nationalism. It seems that the main desire of its proponents is to put one over the English. If Scotland and its people want to move forward as a nation, they should choose an anthem that looks forward, not back.
Gordon Glassford
Corby, Northamptonshire
• I’m sure I won’t be alone in advocating for Michael Marra’s Hermless to be the new national anthem. Marra’s advocacy of the virtues of quietism in part reflects his Dundonian background; in a city of independent wage-earner women, male partners could be relegated to the role of “kettle bilers”, while the women went out to work in the city’s mills. Being everything a national anthem shouldn’t be, Hermless’s advocacy of never causing “bother” is just perfect for a new day.
If you’re Scottish and you haven’t heard it, I can only ask, “whit’s wrang wi’ ye?” For the non-Scot, there’s Loudon Wainwright’s anglicised version, Harmless; he describes Marra’s song as the greatest ever written.
Alistair Richardson
Stirling
• As a Scot who has long lived in various countries and is now retired in France, I have an occasional twinge of nostalgia for my homeland. But a recent conversation with friends revealed that many feel Flower of Scotland is too dirge-like. I do not know the other songs cited in Rory Scothorne’s article, but I would vote for Scotland the Brave – the lyrics are so evocative. While not being martial, it competes favourably with the stirring La Marseillaise, which, despite a certain bloodthirstiness, comes in high on any list of uplifting anthems.
Veronica Stiastny
St Romain-en-Viennois, France
• National anthems should celebrate the culture and ethos of a country, not the killing of a neighbour. Hamish Henderson’s wonderful Freedom Come All Ye was suggested by the Scottish nationalists as an anthem, but Henderson disapproved as he wanted Scotland to be internationalist, not narrowly nationalist. Perhaps a future anthem should reflect internationalism more than nationalism.
John Morgan
Tullibody, Clackmannanshire
• Rory Scothorne has missed an obvious candidate. Written by Robert Burns to a very singable tune, the last verse of A Man’s a Man For A’ That avoids the taint of anti-English sentiment. It stands alone as one verse (though the rest of the poem is worth knowing) and is undeniably forward-looking. The last two lines sum up what we should all strive for: “That man to man, the world o’er / Shall brothers be…”
Eli Currie
Edinburgh
• Surely the best suggestion is The Ball of Kirriemuir (AKA Four and Twenty Virgins). I am sure Scottish MSPs would happily link arms and bellow it out to the Queen. Scotland could become the only country whose national anthem could not be televised before the watershed.
Martin Guha
Blackheath, London
• Reading Rory Scothorne as an Englishman who lived in Scotland for 20 years and has often thought about this, Hamish Henderson’s song is a good choice. But may I suggest Rolling Home to Caledonia, as sung by the Whistlebinkies in 1988. Anything but Flower of Scotland, which is an embarrassment.
John Gibbs
Newport, Shropshire
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