Does Haughty Gaul Invasion Threat
written in 1795
Does Haughty Gaul Invasion Threat - context Summary
Composed in 1795
Written in 1795, this short patriotic piece declares opposition to foreign invasion and urges domestic unity. Burns celebrates naval and volunteer defense, warns against internal quarrels that would invite an enemy, and defends the British constitution — "the Kettle o' the Kirk and State" — as bought by ancestral blood. The poem fuses loyalty to the monarchy ("God save the King") with a populist insistence on remembering the people, framing resistance to both foreign threats and internal tyranny as a collective, distinctly British duty.
Read Complete AnalysesDoes haughty Gaul invasion threat? Then let the louns beware, Sir; There's wooden walls upon our seas, And volunteers on shore, Sir: The Nith shall run to Corsincon, And Criffel sink in Solway, Ere we permit a Foreign Foe On British ground to rally! We'll ne'er permit a Foreign Foe On British ground to rally! O let us not, like snarling curs, In wrangling be divided, Till, slap! come in an unco loun, And wi' a rung decide it! Be Britain still to Britain true, Amang ourselves united; For never but by British hands Maun British wrangs be righted! No! never but by British hands Shall British wrangs be righted! The Kettle o' the Kirk and State, Perhaps a clout may fail in't; But deil a foreign tinkler loun Shall ever ca'a nail in't. Our father's blude the Kettle bought, And wha wad dare to spoil it; By Heav'ns! the sacrilegious dog Shall fuel be to boil it! By Heav'ns! the sacrilegious dog Shall fuel be to boil it! The wretch that would a tyrant own, And the wretch, his true-born brother, Who would set the Mob aboon the Throne, May they be damn'd together! Who will not sing "God save the King," Shall hang as high's the steeple; But while we sing "God save the King," We'll ne'er forget The People! But while we sing "God save the King," We'll ne'er forget The People!
Feel free to be first to leave comment.