War of words

I wonder when last Robert Gritton (Letters, 11 April), or anyone else, sang the national anthem including the verse about crushing rebellious Scots. If a verse in a hymn or an anthem is no longer relevant, it is simply omitted.

A parallel situation is found in Germany where the third verse of the national hymn is sung as the national anthem, presumably because the words of the first verse, which refer to the former boundaries of the country, are no longer relevant.

Brian Morrison

Dixon Terrace

Pitlochry

Robert Gritton appears to believe the myth, assiduously fostered by some elements in the SNP, that there is a verse in the national anthem referring to “rebellious Scots”.

There is not and never has been such a verse in any official version of “God Save the King/Queen”. The offending verse was apparently sung on a few occasions at social gatherings during the Jacobite uprising and then was forgotten (as were rival pro-Jacobite verses).

It was recalled in a historical article in The Gentleman’s Magazine in 1817, and this reference appears to have led to the mistaken belief that it was part of the anthem.

Robert Cairns

Harrietfield

Perthshire