Music Of The Jacobite Rebellion In 18th Century Scotland

The role of music in the Jacobite Rebellion

Question:

Discuss about the Hanoverian Monarchy and Culture of Representation.

Although the people of the Scottish have displayed strong sense of pride for the nation, but referendum on the national Independence, in the year 2014 had sparked into them a renewed interest regarding the Jocobite’s Rebellion in Scotland. The Jacobite Rebellion also known as the Jacobite Rising started during the year 1603, started with the ascension of James I, to the English throne. However in protest of the Jacobite wars in the year 1715 and 1745, Scottish folk singer Ewan Maccoll with his wife presented two rebellion songs that related the history of the Scottish rebellion (Plank and Geoffrey). However, it has also been stated that the music during the Jacobite Rebellion was regarded as romanticized music in Scotland. The Jacobite rebellion was not successful in defeating the British, and that had led to the famous battle known as the “Battle of Culloden.” During the eighteenth century, without the advent of social media and internet, music used to play an important role influencing the sentiments of people in relation to the Jacobite Rebellion. The essay will elucidates on the major aspect of the music of the Jacobite Rebellion during the eighteenth century.

During the time of the Jacobite Rebellion in 18^th century, it was a turning point in the British history, as Charles Stewart decided to invade Britain in order to get back their throne. It was an unsuccessful battle that had led to the famous battle, known as the Battle of Culloden (Paoletti). However at that time in order to influence the sentiments of the Jacob people and to bring and unite all Jacobites together to fight against the Britain, the rebellion songs during that time played a significant role. For instance the song “For the Sake o’ Somebody” by Robert Burns mainly highlighted the true spirit of the Jacobite ballads. As quoted in the song, “My heart is sair- I dare Na tell-….. My heart is sair for somebody… I wad do- what wad I not?” The ballads displayed melancholy and sorrow of the Jacobites that strives to display the respect and loyalty of the Jacobites for their monarchs and accordingly it also tried to showed their love, affection and respect for their missing leaders (Wallace and Ghoshal). Basically this song was sung by Robert Burns in order to pay tribute to their famous ruler, Charles Stewart. It has also been mentioned that the Jacobites were tend to believe to be the royal supporters of the Stewart of Scotland and by singing the rebellion songs, the Jacobites not only try to communicate with their famous ruler, but they also tend to express their emotional sentiments through the songs and ballads. Apart from this, with the use of various ballads the Jacobites tend to craft a new identity for themselves and fir their Scotland, so that they could get back their missing leader. During the time of the Jacobites rebellion it has been said that the music used for political purpose was not a new thing to the Jacobites, as folk songs of that time were sang with the intention to sway away opinion of the public and also for gaining much support from the people. Apart from this, music tends to play a key role in politics by expressing the inner feeling of the singers and views and expression of the general mass in order to bring support related to various issues. In the case of Jacobites rebellion, the songs and the ballad were strongly connected with the traditional Celtic music that observed the expression of the music as a major key aspect to the lives of people (Pittock). Apart from this through their music and ballads, the Scottish Jacobites used to praise their heroes and leaders; they also used to attack their enemies and importantly through music Jacobites tend to set new ideas in order to get back their country.

The Jacobite ballads and their significance

It is important to note that it was not very easy for the Jacobites to comprehend in between the romantic and the nostalgic nature of the Jacobian music in relation to the historical events. At the time of the Jacobite Rebellion, the traditional music mainly the folk song was marginalized. However the nature of the music changed by some notable singers of that era, that includes Peter Kennedy, Alan Lomax, Hamish Henderson and more. They used to collect their songs through recording cd and cassettes and tried to reach out to large number of Jacobites to support the movement (Elfring). It was considered that the eighteenth century was a disturbed situation for the Scottish Jacobites. With the dethroned of the King James II, the loyal supporters of the Stewart found themselves in the dangerous situation with the rule of the Hanoverian monarchs. As the Jacobites were losing their all hopes to get back their old monarchical rule and their rule, the rebellion music of that time influenced and encourage them to get united and to fight against the new monarch. However, the rebellion songs given them a new sense of spirit to rise and to fight against the Britain rule. As the Jacobites comprised of a complex group that consisted of people of people from highlands and Lowland Scotland, the people of the Scotland had people from different religion and culture. Therefore, in order to bring them together to support the rebellion, the Jacobites music played a major role (Donaldson). For instance, one such song to raise the spirit within the Jacobites was the Ye Jacobites by Name,” it was basically a traditional folk song of the Scottish was focussed mainly to rouse rebel against the movement. The song challenged the new monarch that dethroned their own leader and apart from that the song also spoke about the misery of the people of Scotland. It is important to note that the with the similarities in ideological concept, individuals from different perspectives came together to fought against the same movement, and the music during that time gave them a feeling of nationality and towards their leader (Helsinger).

During the complex situation of the eighteenth century that was way back to the year 1715 and 1745, the situation in Scotland was very complex and that was epitomized by the Jacobian ballads. “The canon of the Jacobite” was the most famous Jacobites songs that remained popular till the present day. The songs comprises of different things that includes songs related to war, melancholic chants, love songs, nostalgic songs and more. The popularity of the tunes of Jacobites songs helped in popularizing most of the ballads during that time. One of the famous balladeers of that time was James Hogg, who collected all the songs of that time including his own songs and printed all the songs under the Jacobite collection. As per the report, more than three hundred ballads have been collected from different sources during the Jacobian movement (Nelson). The ballads were composed mostly by the anonymous individuals were similar to the Jacobian ballads and highlighted the situation of that time period. According to the Malcolm Law, ballads in Britain had been divided in to two categories that includes popular and the traditional ballad, however the Jacobian ballads did not fall in this category as the ballads were mixtures of various styles (Pittock). Furthermore, it has also been stated that the Jacobian ballads were used to communicate emotional concepts and ideas with the people all around. The Scottish Jacobian ballads are similar to that of the British ballads as it used to tell stories in small segments. As noted by David Fowler, “ballads were being sung by non-professional people in all ranks of society in both the urban and rural districts of England and Scotland.” The Jacobites were merely not much interested in reforming old idea; they planned to create new ideas and concepts in order to give a new identity to Scotland. The music of the rebellion helped the Jacobites to establish new ideas and concept so that they could get back their old monarchical rule and could live in harmony. Furthermore, popular folk songs were also used in the ballads and to make the ballads more influential and appealing to the lower class people of the Jacobite ballads and songs were incorporated with more traditional content. As per the research, it has been noted that majority of the Jacobites people were able to relate all the ballads and folk song to their national identity (Blanning).

The complexity of the Jacobite music

Apart from the ballads, the music during that time also played an important role. During the year 1750, Italians used to reside in Scotland and they worked as a composer at that time that includes Giusto Tenducci, Nicolo Pasquaili and more. One of the famous composers during the Jacobian regime was Thomas Erskine, who has also been regarded as the first known Scot that introduced the symphony (Craven, Peter, and Malcolm). Apart from this one of the famous song of Charles Stewart was the “My King has landed from Moidart” that explains the rising of the Jacobite Rebellion that is the march of Stewart in order to invade Britain. Other songs of Charlie Stewart includes “The Roses of Prince Charlie, We won't hear our leader run down” and more and in all of his songs, Stewart praised the Jacobite leader Stewarts (Ryrie). Prior to this, the songs of the two Scottish rebellions that consisted of the Ewan Maccoll and Peggy Seeger sang traditional folk songs of the Jacobian regime. Their song includes ‘Charlie He’s My Darling, Wae’s me for Prince Charlie’ and more. In the year 1745, during the battle of Culloden, between the Jacobites and the Britain, the Jacobite armies were slaughtered and were defeated in the battle. The defeat of the Jacobites was also mentioned in the form of songs and ballads so that the people of Scotland could understand the rebellion movement of the Jacobites (Womack). This had resulted in great changes with the people of the Highland and Lowland Scotland that led to the destruction of the clan system in Scotland. There was a misconception that that the bagpipes had been banned after the Culloden war but bagpipes in Scotland used to strengthen the Gaelic culture during the Jacobian regime (Talbot). However, other than the songs there were several ballads that were used as the symbol for the Jacobites that include The Grab of the Brave, The Proud Paid and more. One of the famous ballad that “the wind has blaw’d my plaid Awa’ represented their king Charles at the time he was exiled to France. The ballad explained though the Britain had taken away their king from them, but they have their sword with themselves. This showed that Jacobites still hoped that their king would return to them and it provided them a spirit of unity. Another example is the “The Bonny Highland Laddie” that praised the virtues of the Charles and wished that their king should return to his own land (Elfring). Many Jacobite symbols were used in ballad and folk song in order to show the support towards the Jacobite rebellion that includes deer, lions, oak tree and more (Paoletti). Apart from this, mythology of the Jacobites people played a major role in the Scottish ballad and songs that claimed for autonomy and independence of the Jacobites in Scotland. As per the report, more than three hundred ballads comprised of the politics and the history of Scottish.

Conclusion

From the above essay it could be concluded that music and ballads during the Jacobite rebellion, played a significant role in bringing all the Jacobites people together in order to fight against the movement. Apart from this, many ballads and folk song spoke about their leader and it also showed the respect, love and loyalty towards their leader. The music during the Jacobian regimes helped in bringing all the Jacobites together and according developed a sense of spirit within them. Moreover, the Jacobite movement and the famous Culloden war had a great impact on the traditional music of Scotland.

References

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