Such a parcel of rouges in a nation (Robert Burns Poem)

Is it about the Union of the Crowns in 1603, or is it about the Act of Union in 1707, or was Burns too much influenced by the Jacobite rebellions of 1715 and 1745?

Burns was born some five decades after the Act of Union, when the impact of the legal and political subjugation of Scotland was still strongly felt. The rogues he refers to are his fellow countrymen, those Scots who were falling over themselves with eagerness to please the English, those Scots that were complicit in the pact, those Scots who sold their nation to the English.

It has been cited that the poem was written in reference to the Union of Scotland with England, in which many of the Scottish Nobility, to their eternal disgrace, absolutely sold their country for paltry bribes.

So the poem is not so much a diatribe against the English, but rather a reproach to his fellow countrymen for esteeming their independence so lightly. It bemoans the fact that the fate of a nation should lie in the hands of a few men who can be bribed to vote a certain way, and not in the democratic will of the people.

People deserve the government they get, and they deserve to get it good and hard

Luke Kelly sings Parcel of rouges.
http://youtu.be/Lcm3MmD7uyc

The Corries Parcel o' Rouges
http://youtu.be/Js7x3u2GHYs

My main man Dick Guaghan
http://youtu.be/fQnS0KOSR60

The Cheviot, the stag, and the black black oil is a musical drama and recounts the history of economic change in the Scottish Highlands, from the Highland Clearances in the early 19th century through to the contemporary oil boom.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cheviot,_the_Stag,_and_the_Black_Black_Oil

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Poetry
• Robert Burns
• Independence
• treachery
• briberyLust
• form
• money
• and
• power
• betrayal

[MrJoncando]

..;BraveHeart was a pile of shite m8..Mel Gibson the brave.. U know better then that..hahaHa

The point of my untimely visit is 'Wee Willie Winkle'..I'm a gr8 lover of nursery rhymes..remember youth is wasted on the young..it will suit ya like a glove Sir _ JoHnny

[weegingayin]

@MrJoncando

Wee Wullie winkie

widnae say his prayers

So I took him by the left leg

and thew him doon the stairs

[tanglewoodtw400n]

Another of ma favs very nicely done ma man

[weegingayin]

@tanglewoodtw400n Thank you Marcus. I had a bash at Holy Willie's prayer and Scots Wha Hae as well... that is what you get for reading "The Cheviot the Stag and the black black oil". See description if you have never heard of it.

[TUCKERZONE]

Hi Weeyin..What are your thoughts Scottish Independence?

[weegingayin]

@TUCKERZONE I think it is good that a country should be independent, and have control over its own land and natural resources. If you get a chance read the wikipedia entry for "The Cheviot the Stag and the black black oil" which goes into the misappropriation of land through the highland clearances and the eviction of crofters... grouse and stag being more important than the welfare of humans. I will put a link in the description.

[MrJoncando]

@weegingayin ..spot on , next time, don't  spit so hard..I may be a french gob-shite, but I have feeling too....hahaHa

[MrJoncando]

btw; excuse the rant..well read..have a wee glass of port for ya trouble.

[Rutle]

Love how you read this your passion shines through.

[TUCKERZONE]

@weegingayin Thank you Weeyin Iam in Total Agreement with you I am Part Welsh and think that the Welsh should have the Right to self govern Also,Thanks For the Links my Friend..

[weegingayin]

@cluelocker Thanks. I get a bit carried away at times.