Highland Cathedral towers over the Flower anthem, argues poet

Evoking the spirit of Robert Burns, Donald Smith, a playwright and poet, has written a new set of lyrics to the melody and is challenging others to better them.

Smith claims that Flower of Scotland, the Corries’ tune written in the late 1960s using the battle of Bannockburn as a theme, is "historically backward-looking and anti-English - and the melody is a dreadful dirge".

The official Scottish national anthem, Scots Wha Hae, written by Burns, was inspired by both the political crisis of the time and a popular Scottish tune, Hey Tutti Tatti, which legend has it sung at Bannockburn by the Scots army. "The Scots way is to get the right melody and then write the words," said Mr Smith. "Burns’s method of composition was to respond to the melody."

He continued: "I’m not saying this should be the words to a new national anthem for Scotland. As long as Scotland remains part of the UK and it’s a monarchy, God Save the Queen will have its place. But there is a desperate need for a new aspirational song for Scotland.

"Highland Cathedral is the right tune so I’m putting down a gauntlet. Here’s a set of words. If people don’t like this, do something better."

Highland Cathedral was written as a pipe tune by in 1982 by the German musicians Ulrich Roever and Michael Korb, reportedly for a Highland games in Germany.

Its rising popularity in the two decades since has seen it picked by Madonna as a wedding march when she married at Skibo castle. And Rory Bremner, the Edinburgh-born satirist and impressionist, placed it first on his list of songs for his appearance on Desert Island Discs.

It took as its inspiration the story that King James I of Scotland gathered his clan chiefs in secret at the Highland Cathedral to pledge an end to feuding.

Flower of Scotland’s lyrics centre on the Scots sending Edward of England’s army homeward "tae think again". But defining modern Scotland in terms of resistance to English domination is simply inadequate, said Mr Smith.

Instead, his verses begin: Land of the mountain, islands and the sea, Highland and Lowland, that gives life to me, Mother of justice and humanity, Be our last refuge, stronghold of the free ...

Mr Smith is far from the first to criticise Flower of Scotland. Last year, Kenneth Walton, The Scotsman’s music critic, declared: "Scotland’s so-called national anthem is musical bilge."

He championed Highland Cathedral as "a tune that is perfectly shaped, spanning exactly the same octave range as Flower of Scotland, but doing so with a powerful sense of intent and direction."

Speaking yesterday, Mr Walton also noted that the song may have a rightful place as a classic of modern folk music, but can’t be played accurately on the pipes.

Flower of Scotland was written more than 30 years ago by the late Roy Williamson. His partner in the Corries, Ronnie Browne, now retired, responded with a certain weariness to questions about the song yesterday.

"Roy didn’t write it as an anthem and we never put it forward to be an anthem. It’s Scots people who wanted it. How many people sing it all over the world?" he said. "Over the years, there is always this debate. Highland Cathedral is a nice song. I’ve nothing against it."

There may be other candidates for national tunes: Auld Lang Syne clearly has an important place in Scottish musical heritage and Scotland the Brave is famously catchy.

There are also several sets of lyrics circulating to Highland Cathedral, including some in German. One set was written by Terry Mechan, a singer and composer in Gloucester whose father is from Dundee.

Mr Mechan said yesterday: "I always thought Highland Cathedral had a very powerful musical sound and I just sat down and thought I would cobble together some lyrics."

But while his words talk about a land "where heath grows and Highland eagles soar", the theme is a soldier’s appeal to God to return him safe to Scotland from a distant war.