WEBF
The union seemed secure to me when I was running Edinburgh UAS in the early 60s, and certainly while I was in the Vulcan force later that decade. When I went to a Calcutta Cup match at Murayfield, the crowd sang God Save the Queen just like any self-respecting Brits. There was nothing of this semi-treasonable “Flower of Scotland” rubbish! The subsequent growth of Scottish separatism accompanied by Anglophobia ( a form of racism) seems to have started with a perception that Thatcher had a grudge against the Scots, rather than the Socialism that they hanker after. Their Europhilia (the ScotsNats policy is still, I believe, independence within the EU) is probably due to their view of the side on which their bread is buttered. Now that UK has overtaken France and Germany in Per Capita GDP (expressed in €) and now that “middle England” no longer seems to be embarrassed about flying the Cross of St George, do I detect that Scottish tune is changing, or is less strident?
Apart from the West Lothian question, the outstanding anomaly is the English singing of God Save the Queen before football and Rugby matches. Why call upon the Almighty to help Queenie, who seems to be doing OK on her own, when it is the English pack that needs divine help? The spectacle of the English XV standing around (in Dunedin and at Eden Park, Auckland) trying to look bored while the Blacks wind themselves up with a haka was ridiculous. If they have to stay with the Hanoverian dirge, they should at least use the non-PC second verse (not sung in church!) and aimed at the Jacobites of “48”:-
“O Lord our God arise,
Scatter our enemies
And make them fall;
Confound their politics,
Frustrate their knavish tricks;
On Thee our hopes we fix;
God Save us all”. (Very appropriate in Oz this week!)
Personally I would prefer England teams and their supporters to abandon the UK National Anthem and sing something rousing and secular. The Senior Service (like the devil) has the best tune:-
“ Come cheer up my lads, ‘tis to glory we steer…”
