The Flowers Of The Forest

The traditional lament for the fallen in forces of the British Commonwealth, sung by Isla St.Clair with the pipes over images of 'home', war, and the repatriation British, Canadian and Australian soldiers.

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• flowers
• forest
• lament
• scotland
• bagpipes
• war
• fallen
• poppy
• soldiers
• british
• canadian
• australian
• military
• forces

[clam502]

On this sixty ninth anniversary of the Dieppe raid; We remember them! Pro Patria Gentlemen.

[piddflicks]

@clam502 Yes indeed. My regiment, The Royal Regiment of Canada, took heavy casualties that day. My uncle, Sgt. Ray Leonard, was one of the few to make it back to England, only to return after D-Day and be severely wounded in the battle of Falaise.

[73380401]

I have played this tune at my brothers funeral and it was so very hard trying to keep playing with a lump in my throat.It is also such a beautiful tune.

[piddflicks]

@73380401 How awfully difficult. I'm sorry.

[trialisland150]

Where  do we find such young people who out themselves in harms way for the rest of us. Well Done

[piddflicks]

@trialisland150 Thank you. From my experience in the Army, most of these volunteer soldiers are groomed within families where a sense of 'duty' and a purpose in life greater than themselves is taught and perhaps even lived in other ways.

[gaconnochie]

The Selkirk Common Riding songbook gives a detailed history. Locally the other version which begins “I’ve seen the smiling of fortune beguiling” is known as the FOTF whilst Elliots is known by the name “The Lilting”. Both were sung to the air and variations as published in 1759 by James Oswald. In 1838 the original tune was then rediscovered in the Skene MMs of 1620 and Elliot’s words were then sung to that. So the tune is pushed back to the early 17thC and could well be of the 16th.

[gaconnochie]

“Songs of Scotland Prior To Burns” edited by Robert Chambers in 1862 gives the same story excepting that it was her father who “offered her a bet that she could not compose a ballad on the subject”. Chambers gives Jean’s year of birth as 1727 and remarks that she didn’t as far as is known write anything else which is known.

[gaconnochie]

I’ve looked out the various histories I have. Veitch’s “History and Poetry of the Scottish Border” states “The occasion of the composition was this: when a young woman called Jean Elliot was riding home in a carriage after nightfall to Minto House with her brother ; the conversation turned to Flodden. The brother suggested to the sister, not perhaps believing much in her capacity for it, that this was a fitting subject for a song” Veitch gives a datee of 1756 though it wasn’t printed until 1765.

[gaconnochie]

lyrics is a tune. Not a song! The song on this thread dates from the 18thC. The tune is older. Possibly much older! It deals with events of the 16thC but AFAIK there is no proof that it actually dates from the 16thC. It may do - but I can't imagine it could be proven one way or the other!

[gaconnochie]

@StrathendrickPiper A song has both tune and words. Elliot wrote the words for this song and nowhere did I claim she wrote the tune. The more modern tune was composed to fit words as set down in the 18thC whilst the traditional tune (which is much older) was rediscovered. As previously stated in the post below. You said this song is from the 16thC. Well it isn't. A song has both tune and words and the words were written in the 18thC. A lyrics without a melody is a poem and a melody without

[StrathendrickPiper]

@gaconnochie you said she totally composed this song....that is wrong, she wrote the lyrics but not the melody.

[gaconnochie]

@StrathendrickPiper As I'd said a couple of times already her song is based on an earlier song which does not exist any longer. The words to this song are as penned by Jean Elliot. I've already said the tune itself is older.

[StrathendrickPiper]

@gaconnochie Jean Elliot penned the lyrics in the 18th century, however the actual melody was composed many years before.It's an ancient Scottish folk song.

[gaconnochie]

As to the tunes there are two similar tunes both of which take a central role in the Selkirk Common Riding. One was composed to fit in with the newly writen words (not sure if it was Elliots or Rutherfords off hand) as no-one knew exactly how the older tune went but then the older tune (but not the words) was supposedly rediscovered.

[gaconnochie]

@StrathendrickPiper That is true but there is no variation to this song about Flodden. It is as was written by Jean Ellliot. The only bits that were not totally composed by her are the first two lines of verse 1 and the line "the flooers o the forest are a wede awa". I'm just saying it can't claimed to be from the 16thC only that it was based on an earlier lost ballad. Rutherford's words are on a completely different subject and only share one line of text with Elliot's.