From All Horizons

by Hamish Mcleod
(Cheltenham)

From All Horizons
(Sung to the tune 'Flower of Scotland' by Roy Williamson)

Oh Bonnie Scotland
It is to thee
Again, again,
My heart flies homeward
O’er land, o'er distant sea;
Back to the heather,
The hill and the glen
To lead me home where
My soul is free.

Those wars of old they
Have fell away
To distant years.
The gun and the cannon
Are silent to our ears,
But we remember
The fallen and brave
That forged the nation
We love today.

No matter where now
I tread my path,
Abroad afar,
A hearth is waiting
Where so much blood was lost,
Where now in peace and
Unfettered and proud
Bides bonnie Scotland,
Land of our birth.

From all horizons
The pipes and drums,
That call through time,
Stir clans and armies
Of Scotland’s native lines,
From auld acquaintance
We’ve made our amends
And in Bonnie Scotland we’ll meet again,
In Bonnie Scotland we’ll meet again.


** I wrote this after many, many infuriating years of listening to Flower of Scotland before every rugby match. I love the tune with a passion, but honestly, we only ever properly beat the English once.... so why give them the continued opportunity to remind us all by referring to it week in week out?
After several years I decided to act on my fury and write us a new anthem! This came to me after a fair bit of work, but I think I got it down in the end. It at least sums up how I feel about being a highlander living down south.


Edited by May
There is more of Hamish's work on this website.
(He likes the format, but is currently trying to work out how to rearrange the order of the poems without removing them all and resubmitting.)