Matt McGinn - The Heilan Man

THE HEILAN' MAN

Ten thousand Roman soldiers to the Heilands they came north
And they had conquered everything from the Tiber to the Forth.
They camped beside Loch Lomond, for the night they thought they'd lie,
But somewhere on the Cobbler hill they heard this terrible cry:

Chorus:
Grigalie! Grigaloo!
Come up and fight, you cowardly crew!
I'll have you for my pot of stew!
You fear to fight with me!

On top stood a bearded Heilan' man with a kilt and a big claymore
He looked a bit ferocious, so old Caesar sent up four.
Then he sat down for dinner by the bright light of the moon,
But he lost his taste for vino when four heads come rollin' doon.

Chorus

Then Caesar sent Marc Antony wi' another fifty five.
"Gae bring to me that rascal's head, or I'll have you stewed alive."
They heard the clash of metal until the night was done,
But again they heard this terrible cry by the rising of the sun.

Chorus

Then Caesar sent a thousand men, this Heilan' man to crack,
But out of all the thousand, there was only one came back.
"Oh, Caesar!" cried the soldier, wi' his head all black and blue,
"The rascal has been lying! There's not just one, there's two!"

Chorus

So Caesar picked his suitcase up and he ran southwards then
He was doin' eighty miles an hour, but he couldn't catch his men
Now maybe ye will wonder why I've told this tale at all
Well, it has a simple moral, an' they call it...Hadrian's Wall

Category:

Music

Tags:

• roman
• hadrian
• scotland
• matt
• mcginn
• empire
• glasgow

[praskovia13]

old Hadrian knew he'd not get the Scottish Lands, great wall all the same

[segano1]

The Romans were used to the people of Scotland's battle tactics, the Scots knew their land very very well, and the Romans failed miserably to conquer Scotland, the Romans called the Scots as "Picts" - because of their blue tattoos in battle and they called the land of Scotland as "Caledonia" and Ireland as "Hibernia".

England and Wales were the only lands nearby that were conquered by the Romans and named as

"Britannia" - an extended province of Rome.

Scotland has never truly been conquered.

[segano1]

@3tangle3 It's the other way around, there is no evidence that any major number of people came from Ulster to Scotland/Caledonia beyond Columba and a few of his missionaries after he was exiled from Ireland, so he came to Scotland at the Isle of Iona, and set up his Christian monastery to preach to the early Scots.

That's why all the evidence points to Dál Riata having always been part of Scotland/Caledonia and migration went 'to' Antrim not 'from', even the capital, Dunadd, was in Scotland,

[robsargent4]

@3tangle3 now just called "Ireland" -from the Irish "Eire", not Scotland. All a bit confusing, but then history is. I suppose the present is as well...maybe even more confusing than the future.

[robsargent4]

@segano1 Scotti were originally from Ireland (the Romans couldn't really make their mind up over whether they'd call Ireland Hibernia or Scotia - they called Scotland Caledonia). Later the Scotti (or "Scots" in English) settled in what's now western Scotland & according to legend they took over/united with the Picts (the original inhabitants of northern Scotland) to found the Kingdom of Alba - which seems to have adopted the name Scotland as far as English-speakers are concerned, while Ireland's

[3tangle3]

@segano1 I was merely highlighting certain origins!! scotti tribe were in what is now ulster...have a read up - you;re identity is your own....if you were proud to be peruvian i should respect that ;)

[segano1]

@3tangle3 'Scotti' isn't Irish and isn't a tribe either,

Scotland is a completely different nation from Ireland.

[3tangle3]

@postmanprick a pictish patriot

[3tangle3]

@segano1 be careful using the word "scot" from scotti an irish tribe ;)