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The Freedom Come-All-Ye
[ Roud - ; DT FREECOME ; Mudcat 4517 , 62137 ; Hamish Henderson (1919-2002), tune The Bloody Fields of Flanders]
The Freedom Come-All-Ye is a Scots language song written by Hamish Henderson in 1960.
An early two-stanza version of the song was published in a broadsheet “Writers against Aparthied” (sic) in the Spring of 1960; as the first line refers to Harold Macmillan’s Wind of Change speech, given in February of that year, the composition can be dated quite precisely. Henderson was recorded singing the complete 3-stanza version of the song that year. [Wikipedia]
A The School of Scottish Studies archive recording of Hamish Henderson singing The Freedom Come-All-Ye was included in 2018 on the Greentrax anthology Scotland’s Voices.
The Glasgow Song Guild sang The Freedom Come-All-Ye on the 1962 Folkways album of Anti-Polaris and Scottish republican songs, Ding Dong Dollar.
Nigel Denver sang Freedom Come All Ye in 1964 on his eponymous Decca album, Nigel Denver. He noted:
This majestic song of peace written by Hamish Henderson shows his great compassion and understanding of the problems facing humanity.
The Exiles recorded Freedom, Come All Ye in 1966 as the title track of their Topic album Freedom, Come All Ye. This track was also included in 1999 on the EFDSS anthology Root & Branch 1: A New World. Gordon McCulloch noted on the original album:
This is the work of Hamish Henderson, one of Scotland’s most gifted poets, whose Elegies for the Dead in Cyrenaica won him the Somerset Maugham Award. The folk song revival in Scotland is in debt to Henderson for his years of valuable research at the School of Scottish Studies, and for the many fine songs which he has himself contributed. The air is the traditional pipe tune, The Bloody Fields of Flanders.
Five Hand Reel sang Freedom Come-All-Ye on their 1978 album Earl o’ Moray.
Ed Miller sang Freedom Come All Ye in 1989 on his Folk-Legacy album Border Background. He noted:
Poet, folklorist, songwriter, orator, storyteller, drinker and dreamer, Hamish Henderson has for decades been the seminal figure of the Scots Folk Revival. Renowned in academic circles as a long-time researcher for the Edinburgh University School of Scottish Studies, he is also loved and respected everywhere from the revival festivals to the homes and Traveller tents of the folk from whom he has collected songs and stories. To see big Hamish, arms raised, leading his own songs at a festival session, is a joy to anyone who loves to see any gap between folklorists and the Folk effectively eliminated.
This song takes off from a speech by one-time Prime Minister Harold McMillan in which he stated that there was a wind of change blowing through the continent of Africa. Henderson, whose politics are far to the left of McMillan’s, widens the phrase into an inspiring plea for racial equality, international socialism and an end to war and colonialism. As in his other best songs, such as The John MacLean March or The Banks of Sicily, he demonstrates his ability to write a song that is both uniquely Scottish and international.
Politically, the Scottish folk revival movement has long been associated with leftist, nationalist and anti-war sentiments, so it is no surprise that this song has become its anthem.
Hamish Bayne and Martin Cole sang Freedom Come All Ye in 1991 on their Fellside album Making Music.
Isla St Clair sang The Freedom Come-All-Ye in 1993 on her album Inheritance.
The Band of Hope sang Freedom Come All Ye in 1994 on their Musikfolk album Rhythm & Reds. This track was also included in 2000 on Roy Bailey’s album Coda.
Dick Gaughan sang The Freedom Come-All-Ye, “Hamish Henderson’s great song on Internationalism”, on his 1996 Greentrax album Sail On. A 1982 live recording from the Old Cambridge Baptist Church, next to Harvard University Campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was included in 2019 on his Greentrax album The Harvard Tapes. This video shows him in a 1989 performance:
Dick Gaughan noted on his now defunct website:
Written to the pipes tune The Bloody Fields of Flanders
This song is so rich in imagery and symbolism that it is impossible to give an adequate understanding of it without writing a major treatise. Basically, the main theme is anti-imperialism coupled with the recognition of the part that Scots have played in the conquest and subjugation of other peoples within the British Empire and the anticipation of the day when all peoples are truly free and can meet in peace and friendship.
The confident “more than a rough wind” in the first verse has two references— the first to Harold MacMillan’s remarkable “Winds of Change” speech about Africa in the early 1960s, and the second as a riposte to the “all the answers are blowing in the wind” pessimism of the “protest song” purveyors.
The title is a nod towards the genre of songs known as “Come all ye’s”, the kind of song which begins with a call to listen—“Come all ye (sons of liberty / good people / tramps and hawkers etc) and listen to my song”.
A quick word to anyone wanting to sing this. There are two fatal mistakes non-Scots often make in singing Scots songs. The first is to try to fake a Scots accent and the second is to try to rewrite the words in English. Neither is necessary. The second is aesthetically disastrous. The first is impossible—there is no such thing as “a Scots accent”, any more than there is such a thing as “an English accent”; there are several hundred “Scots accents” and trying to imitate what you might imagine to be a generic one is going to end up with you sounding like Scotty from Star Trek, guaranteed to have any Scot who hears you wetting their legs laughing.
Just sing the Scots words in your own accent. Two of the very best performances of this song I have ever heard were by non-Scots, the first by Luke Kelly who sang it in his broad Dublin accent, and the second by Pete Seeger who sang it with his own accent, quite identifiably from North America. Both were totally convincing—because they made no attempt to pretend to being Scots and they had both made the effort to understand the nuances of the meanings of the words.
It is this understanding which is the decisive factor in singing a song of this magnitude, so to help you achieve this, here is a loose translation. It is a pretty crude attempt at making it a wee bit more accessible to non-Scots and is not so much a literal translation as a descriptive interpretation.
Mick West sang Freedom Come All Ye in 1997 on his Lochshore album Right Side o’ the People. He noted:
Written by the extremely knowledgeable and poetic Hamish Henderson, this has to rank as one of the finest songs ever written. I have been singing this song for so long that I can’t remember if I first heard it from Arthur Johnstone or Dick Gaughan. I find the generous spirit in which it is written inspiring.
Jim Malcolm sang Freedom Come All Ye on his 2002 album Home. He noted:
Although I was well aware that a flurry of recording would follow the death of Hamish Henderson, a true giant in the cultural life of Scotland, I needed to record this song. It is touchingly lyrical and crushingly aposite.
Jim Reid sang The Freedom Come-All-Ye on Greentrax’s 2003 Hamish Henderson tribute album A’ the Bairns o Adam. He also sang it in 2005 on his Greentrax album Yont the Tay.
Alasdair Roberts sang The Freedom Come-All-Ye on Concerto Caledonia’s 2011 CD Revenge of the Folksingers.
Freedom Come All Ye was sung as the closing tracks of the 2016 and 2018 concerts celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the TMSA. Both concerts were released by the TMSA on DVD as 101 Scottish Songs: The Wee Red Book and 101 Scottish Songs: The Wee Red Book 3.
Steve Byrne sang Freedom Come All Ye at the Tanz- & Folkfest Rudolstadt 2017.
Findlay Napier sang The Freedom Come All Ye in 2017 on the Folk by the Oak album Shake the Chains. He noted:
Written by Hamish Henderson in 1960, it has become the best of Scotland’s unofficial national anthems. Originally themed as an anti-imperialist protest song, the first line echoes Harold MacMillan’s “Winds of Change” speech.
There [was] an excellent translation from the Scots on Dick Gaughan’s [now defunct] website. My favourite part is the verse:
All of you who love freedom
Pay no attention to the prophets of doom.
In your house all the children of Adam
Will have food, drink and hospitality.Or: “Ignore the Daily Mail, welcome refugees.”
The “black boy frae yont Nyanga” is Nelson Mandela.
Jackie Oates sang Freedom Come-All-Ye in 2018 on her ECC album The Joy of Living.
Jenn Butterworth sang Freedom Come-All-Ye in 2020 on Ross Ainslie’s, Ali Hutton’s and her album Symbiosis III. This video shows them in a Symbiosis concert on 20 March 2019 at Universal Hall Theatre, Findhorn, Moray:
Rod Paterson sang The Freedom Come-All-Ye on Bring in the Spirit’s 2024 anthology Bring in the Spirit. He noted:
Hamish Henderson’s classic hymn to universal peace and freedom will never be out of date. Here we keep to strict ‘retreat march’ time.
Lyrics
Hamish Henderson’s The Freedom Come-All-Ye
Roch the wind in the clear days dawin
Blows the cloods heelster-gowdie ow’r the bay,
But there’s mair nor a roch wind blawin
Through the great glen o the warld the day.
It’s a thocht that will gar oor rottans
—A’ they rogues that gang gallus, fresh and gay—
Tak the road, and seek ither loanins
For their ill ploys, tae sport and play.
Nae mair will the bonnie callants
Mairch tae war when oor braggarts crousely craw
Nor wee weans frae pitheid and clachan
Mourn the ships sailing doon the Broomielaw,
Broken faimlies in lands we’ve herriet
Will curse Scotland the Brave nae mair, nae mair;
Black and white, ane ti ither mairriet,
Mak the vile barracks o’ thier maisters bare.
So come all ye at hame wi’ Freedom,
Never heed whit the hoodies croak for doom.
In your hoose a’ the bairnes o’ Adam
Can find breid, barley-bree and painted room.
When Maclean meets wi’s friens in Springburn,
A’ the roses and geans will turn tae bloom,
And a black boy frae yont Nyanga
Dings the fell gallows o’ the burghers doon.
Glossary from Hamish Henderson’s 1961 letter to Pete Seeger, from the book The Armstrong Nose: selected letters of Hamish Henderson. Polygon, Edinburgh, 1996.
Dick Gaughan sings The Freedom Come-All-Ye
Roch the win i the clear day’s dawin
Blaws the clouds heilster-gowdie owre the bay
But thair’s mair nor a roch win blawin
Thro the Great Glen o the warl the day
It’s a thocht that wad gar our rottans
Aa thae rogues that gang gallus fresh an gay
Tak the road an seek ither loanins
Wi thair ill-ploys tae sport an play
Nae mair will our bonnie callants
Merch tae war whan our braggarts crousely craw
Nor wee weans frae pitheid an clachan
Murn the ships sailin doun the Broomielaw
Broken faimilies in launs we’ve hairriet
Will curse Scotlan the Brave nae mair, nae mair
Black an white ane-til-ither mairriet
Mak the vile barracks o thair maisters bare
Sae come aa ye at hame wi freedom
Never heed whit the houdies croak for Doom
In yer hous aa the bairns o Aidam
Will fin breid, barley-bree an paintit room
Whan MacLean meets wi’s friens in Springburn
Aa thae roses an geeans will turn tae blume
An a black laud frae yont Nyanga
Dings the fell gallows o the burghers doun.
Interpretation in English by Dick Gaughan
Roch the win i the clear day’s dawin
Blaws the clouds heilster-gowdie owre the bay
But thair’s mair nor a roch win blawin
Thro the Great Glen o the warl the day
It’s a rough wind in the clear day’s dawning
Blows the clouds head-over-heels across the bay
But there’s more than a rough wind blowing
Through the Great Glen of the world today
The Great Glen is the rift valley which runs diagonally across Scotland, roughly separating Highland and Lowland Scotland, and is used here as a symbol of division, inequality, racism, exploitation and prejudice.
It’s a thocht that wad gar our rottans
It’s a thought that would make our rodents,
In this context “rottans” can also be interpreted as “vermin”; it is a reference to opportunists, exploiters.
Aa thae rogues that gang gallus fresh an gay
Tak the road an seek ither loanins
Wi thair ill-ploys tae sport an play
All those rogues who strut and swagger,
Take the road and seek other pastures
To carry out their wicked schemes
Nae mair will our bonnie callants
Merch tae war whan our braggarts crousely craw
No more will our fine young men
March to war at the behest of jingoists and imperialists
”Crousely craw” has echoes of the carrion crow, the scavenger; these two lines are refering to the number of young Scots who joined the British Army out of dire economic necessity and were sent to colonised nations to do unto them what had previously been done unto us.
Nor wee weans frae pitheid an clachan
Murn the ships sailin doun the Broomielaw
Nor will young children from mining communities and rural hamlets
Mourn the ships sailing off down the River Clyde
This reference to "ships sailing" carries a double image, that of the emigrant ships and also of warships. The images of mining and rural communities are used to bring together industrial and rural Scotland as one.
Broken faimilies in launs we’ve hairriet
Will curse Scotlan the Brave nae mair, nae mair
Broken families in lands we’ve helped to oppress
will never again have reason to curse the sound of advancing Scots
Here “Scotland the Brave” refers to the sound of bagpipes announcing the arrival of Scots troops, a sound which came to be feared throughout the British Empire.
Black an white ane-til-ither mairriet
Mak the vile barracks o thair maisters bare
Black and white, united in friendship and marriage,
Will result in the military garrisons being adandoned and empty
i.e., will bring an end to Imperialism.
Sae come aa ye at hame wi freedom
So come all you who love freedom
“At hame wi”, literally “at home with” can have several meanings in this context—who live with, who love, who already have
Never heed whit the houdies croak for Doom
Pay no attention to the prophets of doom
The “houdie” is another reference to the carrion crow
In yer hous aa the bairns o Aidam
Will fin breid, barley-bree an paintit room
In your house all the children of Adam
Will be welcomed with food, drink and hospitality
The unwritten laws of hospitality are historically sacred to the Scots.
Whan MacLean meets wi’s friens in Springburn
When the spirit of John MacLean returns to his people
John MacLean, Glasgow schoolteacher and anti-imperialist
Aa thae roses an geeans will turn tae blume
An a black laud frae yont Nyanga
Dings the fell gallows o the burghers doun.
All the flowers will blossom
And black Africa will bring crashing down
All Imperialism’s dreadful apparatus of oppression
“dings doun”, literally “tears down”.