O Flouer o
Scotland,
Whan will we see,
Yer like again,
That focht and
dee'd for,
Yer wee bit Hill an Glenn,
An stuid agin him,
Prood
Edward's Airmie,
An sent him hamewart,
Tae think again.
The
Hills is bare nou,
An Autumn leafs,
Lies thick an still,
Ower
land that is tint nou,
That thae sae darlie held,
That stuid agin
him,
Prood Edward's Airmie,
An sent him hamewart,
Tae think
again.
Thir days is past nou,
An in the past,
Thay mun
remain,
But we can aye rise nou,
An be the naition again,
That
stuid agin him,
Prood Edward's Airmie,
An sent him hamewart,
Tae think again.
O Flower of
Scotland,
When will we see
Your like again,
That fought and
died for,
Your wee bit Hill and Glen,
And stood against him,
Proud Edward's Army,
And sent him homeward,
To think again.
The Hills are bare now,
And Autumn leaves
lie thick and still,
O'er land that is lost now,
Which those so dearly held,
That stood
against him,
Proud Edward's Army,
And sent him homeward,
To
think again.
Those days are past now,
And in the past
they
must remain,
But we can still rise now,
And be the nation again,
That stood against him,
Proud Edward's Army,
And sent him
homeward,
To think again.
O Fhlùir na
h-Alba,
cuin a chì sinn
an seòrsa laoich
a sheas gu bàs 'son
am bileag feòir is fraoich,
a sheas an aghaidh
feachd uailleil
Iomhair
's a ruaig e dhachaidh
air chaochladh smaoin?
Na
cnuic tha lomnochd
's tha duilleach Foghair
mar bhrat air làr,
am fearann caillte
dan tug na seòid ud gràdh,
a sheas an aghaidh
feachd uailleil Iomhair
's a ruaig e dhachaigh
air chaochladh
smaoin.
Tha 'n eachdraidh dùinte
ach air dìochuimhne
chan
fheum i bhith,
is faodaidh sinn èirigh
gu bhith nar Rìoghachd
a-rìs
a sheas an aghaidh
feachd uailleil Iomhair
's a ruaig e
dhachaidh
air chaochladh smaoin.
The song has been used as a National Anthem by the Scotland national rugby union team, ever since the winger, Billy Steele, encouraged his team-mates to sing it on the victorious Lions tour of South Africa in 1974.[4] The song was adopted as the pre-game anthem during the deciding match of the 1990 Five Nations Championship between Scotland and England, which Scotland won 13–7 to win the Grand Slam.[5] The Scottish Football Association adopted "Flower of Scotland" as its pre-game national anthem in 1997[6]although it was first used by them in 1993.[citation needed] Usually only the first and third verses are sung.
When sung at sporting events, crowds will often call back after certain lines:[8] after the words "and stood against him", you may hear "(a)gainst who"; and after the words "and sent him homewards", you may hear "whit fur?" ("what for?").
The song was used as the victory anthem of Team Scotland at the Commonwealth Games in 2010 replacing "Scotland the Brave". This trend continued to the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow where it was again Team Scotland's anthem and was sung following a Scottish first place. (notably it was sung 4 times when Team Scotland won 4 gold medals in the opening day).
In July 2006, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra conducted an online poll (publicised by Reporting Scotland) in which voters could choose a national anthem from one of five candidates.[10] 10,000 people took part in the poll in which Flower of Scotland came out the winner.