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What is the song the soldiers sing as they march?

posted 19 years ago by Ramses_Emerson
9 replies | jump to latest

As the Regiment is approaching the Golden Temple, when Ballantine, Cutter, and MacChesney are up with the Guru. The soldiers slowly approach and when hear them singing quietly in the distance (the sargents think their minds are playing tricks on them) but then it gets louder and louder, and we hear it clearly. I think I have heard that in other places before, it's probably a famous british song, but I (being American) have never heard it before. It's a brilliant tune, does anyone know what it's called?

[–] rabmac 18 years ago

I may be mistaken, as it is a long time since I saw the movie, but I think the song is "Will Ye No' Come Back Again." Details (and a link to a site where you can hear the song) at the following website:

http://www.rampantscotland.com/songs/blsongs_back.htm

Hope this helps.

[–] Ramses_Emerson 18 years ago

Yes! That's it! I have been trying to find out what that song was for years! You have my most sincere thanks.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] TorontoJediMaster 17 years ago

I was just watching the film now, and I was wondering the very same thing. I figured it was a marching song for a highland regiment.

Thanks for the information.

[–] hankpac 12 years ago

You can see the lyrics if you turn on the subtitles.
One of the few subtitled on TCM.

[–] PR-7 10 years ago

The first time I saw this film, I chuckled as I saw soldiers marching at a brisk pace through the desert, singing as they went. As a backpacker, I've found that singing is the LAST thing you want to do while quickly walking with a pack. While a song can be a useful way to pass the time while walking slowly or sitting around a campfire, singing is a disruption to your breathing pattern AND allows a lot of moisture to escape from your throat. As such, hikers do NOT sing while briskly walking, particularly in a climate where every drop of water counts.

NOW I found out that this song is a lament over the fact that Bonnie Prince Charles will never return, and thus never lead the Scots to victory over the English. Didn't the English officers of these soldiers catch the sentiment of this song -- that the Scots are still pissed about being ruled by the English?

Yes, I KNOW it's a movie, and its military aspects are almost fantasy. But I still chuckle at this part.

BTW, IMHO, Gunga Din's death scene is one of the best cinematic experiences EVER put on film.

.
Mr Smith: "Like the rose trampled on the ground, you took the fall"

[–] magolding 8 years ago

NOW I found out that this song is a lament over the fact that Bonnie Prince Charles will never return, and thus never lead the Scots to victory over the English. Didn't the English officers of these soldiers catch the sentiment of this song -- that the Scots are still pissed about being ruled by the English?

Isn't it possible that most of the officers of the Scottish regiment in the movie may have understood the sentiment of the song and done nothing about it because they were -- Scottish?

I just logged in to ask about that song which I have been trying to find the lyrics to for a long time.

Did you know that "The Bonnie Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond" is also supposed to be a Jacobite song?

[–] magolding 8 years ago

NOW I found out that this song is a lament over the fact that Bonnie Prince Charles will never return, and thus never lead the Scots to victory over the English. Didn't the English officers of these soldiers catch the sentiment of this song -- that the Scots are still pissed about being ruled by the English?

Yes, I KNOW it's a movie, and its military aspects are almost fantasy. But I still chuckle at this part.

It's not about hoping that Bonnie Prince Charlie will return to help the Scots defeat the English. It's not a Scottish vs English thing. The way you write makes it seem you think that Scotland was an oppressed colony of England, like the 13 American colonies, or something.

It's about right vs wrong. The Scottish singers of the song are hoping that the Stuart Dynasty, the rightful dynasty of BOTH Scotland and England, will return and over throw the wrongful dynasty, the Hanoverian Dynasty, which was chosen to succeed by the Evil Usurper William III and the evil traitors who helped him and his invading army seize the English and Scottish thrones. The singers are hoping for a Stuart Restoration to defeat not England, but the forces of Evil that oppress both Scotland and England.