Highland Laddie, also known as Hielan' Laddie, is the name of an ancient Scottish popular folk tune If thou'lt play me fair play, but as with many old melodies, various sets of words can be sung to it and Robert Burns' poem 'Highland Laddie, Highland Lassie' has been the most memorable. Highland Regiments raised in the 18th and early 19th centuries employed many unique symbols to differentiate themselves from other regiments and enlisted distinctive music to announce their arrival, but as a result of the Cardwell Reforms of 1881, all British Army Highland Regiments were required to use 'Highland Laddie' as their Regimental March. Over time, many of these regiments had managed to return to their pre-Cardwell marches when, in March 2006, the establishment of the Royal Regiment of Scotland saw the disappearance of all Scotland's historic infantry regiments and their distinctions, including music, and the adoption of a new Regimental March, "Scotland the Brave". If thou'lt play me fair play has been reworked several times since Burns set down his words and the latest has been a version recorded by the Newfoundland folk rock band Great Big Sea as "Donkey Riding."
Read more about Highland Laddie: Regiments, Highland Dance, Settings, Canadian Settings, Lyrics
Famous quotes containing the words highland and/or laddie:
“If you would feel the full force of a tempest, take up your residence on the top of Mount Washington, or at the Highland Light, in Truro.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Ye lassies all, where’er ye be,
And ye lie with an east-shore laddie,
Ye’ll happy be and ye’ll happy be,
For they are frank and free.”
—Unknown. The Rantin Laddie (l. 49–52)