"Ye Jacobites by Name" ( Roud # 5517) is a traditional Scottish folk song which goes back to the

Jacobite risings , war = , image = Prince James Francis Edward Stuart by Louis Gabriel Blanchet.jpg , image_size = 150px , caption = James Francis Edward Stuart, Jacobite claimant between 1701 and 1766 , active ...

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 An anti-war movement (also ''antiwar'') is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term anti-war can also refer to pa ...

, but nonetheless anti-Jacobite outlook. This is the version that most people know today. The song (no. 371) was published in 1793 in volume 4 of James Johnson's

Scots Musical Museum The ''Scots Musical Museum'' was an influential collection of traditional folk music of Scotland published from 1787 to 1803. While it was not the first collection of Scottish folk songs and music, the six volumes with 100 songs in each collected ...

and in James Hogg's

Jacobite Reliques ''Jacobite Relics'' is a two volume collection of songs related to the Jacobite risings, compiled by the Scottish poet and novelist James Hogg on commission from the Highland Society of London in 1817. Most of the songs in the collection are Jacob ...

of 1817 (no. 34). It also appears in a collection of Scottish songs entitled ''Personal Choice'' by

Ewan MacColl James Henry Miller (25 January 1915 – 22 October 1989), better known by his stage name Ewan MacColl, was a folk singer-songwriter, folk song collector, labour activist and actor. Born in England to Scottish parents, he is known as one of the ...

. The tune is taken from "

My Love's in Germany "My Love’s in Germany" (My Luve's in Germanie) is a poem written by Scottish poet Hector Macneill. It was first printed in 1794 and is the lament of a Scottish woman for her lover. The song was re-published in 1885 by Colonel David Balfour as an ...

" by

Hector Macneill Hector Macneill (22 October 1746 – 15 March 1818) was a Scottish poet born near Roslin, Midlothian, Scotland. Macneill had been the son of a poor army captain and went to work as a clerk in 1760 at the age of fourteen. Soon, he was sent to th ...

Robert Burns's version

This is the version in Johnson's, Hogg's and MacColl's collections: Ye Jacobites by name, give an ear, give an ear, Ye Jacobites by name, give an ear, Ye Jacobites by name, Your fautes I will proclaim, Your doctrines I maun blame, you shall hear, you shall hear Your doctrines I maun blame, you shall hear. What is Right, and What is Wrang, by the law, by the law? What is Right and what is Wrang by the law? What is Right, and what is Wrang? A short sword, and a lang, A weak arm and a strang, for to draw, for to draw A weak arm and a strang, for to draw. What makes heroic strife, famed afar, famed afar? What makes heroic strife famed afar? What makes heroic strife? To whet th' assassin's knife, Or hunt a Parent's life, wi' bluidy war? Then let your schemes alone, in the state, in the state, Then let your schemes alone in the state. So let your schemes alone, Adore the rising sun, And leave a man undone, to his fate, to his fate. And leave a man undone, to his fate.

Original lyrics rom: The Battle of Falkirk Garland 'printed in the year 1746' An Excellent new Song on the Jacobites, and the Opression of the Rebels. To the Tune of, Captain Kid. http://mudcat.org/olson/viewpage.cfm?theurl=SONGTXT1.html#YEJACOB

References

External links

*Digitised copy of volumes 1 and 2 o
The Relics of Jacobite Scotland
by James Hogg, printed between 1819 and 1821, from

National Library of Scotland The National Library of Scotland (NLS) ( gd, Leabharlann Nàiseanta na h-Alba, sco, Naitional Leebrar o Scotland) is the legal deposit library of Scotland and is one of the country's National Collections. As one of the largest libraries in the ...

. JPEG, PDF, XML versions. *Digitised copy o
Scots Musical Museum
by James Johnson printed between 1787 and 1803, from

. JPEG, PDF, XML versions. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ye Jacobites By Name Traditional ballads Scottish folk songs