Golden Bough – “Hey, Johnnie Cope / Brenda Stubbert’s Reel”.

Earlier this week, I shared with you Ranagri’s version of Follow Me up to Carlow,, and today I decided to share another nationalist/battle song, except not Irish but Scottish, sung by the American Celtic folk group Golden Bough. It commemorates the victory of Scottish forces led by Charles Edward Stuart during the Battle of Trestonpans on 21 September, during the Jacobite rising of 1745, when they defeated a government army led by Sir John Cope in less than fifteen minutes. The melody is traditional and the words were written by Adam Skirving shortly after the battle, though the song isn’t a very accurate portrayal of the event. Golden Bough finish it with a reel  by American fiddler Jerry Holland, composed for another fiddler – Brenda Stubbert from Cape Breton.