"Roses of Prince Charlie" is a modern

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

composed by

Ronnie Browne Ronald Grant Browne (born 20 August 1937), known as The Voice, is a Scottish musician and songwriter, who is a founding member of The Corries. Biography Browne was born in Edinburgh to John Albert 'Bertie' Browne, a truck d ...

The Corries The Corries were a Scottish folk group that emerged from the Scottish folk revival of the early 1960s. The group was a trio from their formation until 1966 when founder Bill Smith left the band but Roy Williamson and Ronnie Browne contin ...

. It was written ''circa'' 1973 and first appeared in their album released in 1974, ''Live From Scotland Volume 1''. The title of the song refers to the symbol of

Charles Edward Stuart Charles Edward Louis John Sylvester Maria Casimir Stuart (31 December 1720 – 30 January 1788) was the elder son of James Francis Edward Stuart, making him the grandson of James VII and II, and the Stuart claimant to the thrones of England, ...

, which was a white rose. The words represent

Jacobitism Jacobitism was a political ideology advocating the restoration of the senior line of the House of Stuart to the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, British throne. When James II of England chose exile after the November 1688 Glorious Revolution, ...

and modern

Scottish Nationalism Scottish nationalism promotes the idea that the Scottish people form a cohesive nation and Scottish national identity, national identity. Scottish nationalism began to shape from 1853 with the National Association for the Vindication of Scottis ...

. In the first verse, Browne mentions two battles between Scotland and England as well as the Jacobite uprising of 1745–6;

Bannockburn Bannockburn () is an area immediately south of the centre of Stirling in Scotland. It is part of the City of Stirling. It is named after the Bannock Burn, a stream running through the town before flowing into the River Forth. History Land in ...

Flodden The Battle of Flodden, Flodden Field, or occasionally Branxton or Brainston Moor was fought on 9 September 1513 during the War of the League of Cambrai between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland and resulted in an English victory ...

, and Culloden. The second verse mentions Scottish mass emigration and the industry of Scottish immigrants ("carved out the New World with sweat, blood, and hand"). The 'New World' refers to countries such as America and Canada, where the Scottish population emigrated to in the 1800s (or were shipped to penal colonies there in earlier periods). The third verse of the song references Scottish industrialisation of the 20th century and seems to mentions the hopes for a devolved or independent Scotland (Black Gold and fisheries etc.). This is plausible, as Browne often mentioned Scottish independence in his songs. ''Roses o' Prince Charlie's''

timing Timing is the tracking or planning of the spacing of events in time. It may refer to: * Timekeeping, the process of measuring the passage of time * Synchronization, controlling the timing of a process relative to another process * Time metrolo ...

is 2/4, although when played to crowds it was played faster due to the audience clapping to a faster timing than it was played in a studio. It was meant for two guitars, with both players singing the chorus and one singing each verse (as it was commonly sung by The Corries, which Browne was notably a part of). The song appeared on ''Live From Scotland Volume 1'', ''The Lads among heather'' (Volume 1 and 2), and ''The Corries 21st anniversary concert''. After

Roy Williamson Roy Murdoch Buchanan Williamson (25June 193612August 1990) was a Scottish songwriter and folk musician, most notably with The Corries. Williamson is best known for writing " Flower of Scotland", which has become the de facto national anthem o ...

's death, Ronnie Browne sang this song in his solo album released in 1996, ''Battle Songs and Ballads''.

Lyrics

(Chorus) ''Come now, gather round, here where the flowers grow,'' ''White is the blossom as the snow on the ben.'' ''Hear now freedom's call, we'll make a solemn vow'' ''Now by the roses o' Prince Charlie.'' (Verse 1) ''Fight again at

, your battle axe to wield,'' ''Fight with your grandsires at Flodden's bloody field.'' ''Fight at Culloden, the bonnie prince to shield,'' ''Fight by the roses o' Prince Charlie.'' (Chorus) (Verse 2) ''Spirits o' the banished in far and distant lands,'' ''Carved out the new world with sweat, blood and hand.'' ''Return now in glory and on the silver sand,'' ''Fight by the roses o' Prince Charlie.'' (Chorus) (Verse 3) ''Tak your strength fae the green fields that blanket peat and coal,'' ''Ships fae the Clyde have a nation in their hold.'' ''The water o' life some men need tae make them bold.'' ''Black gold and fishes fae the sea, man!'' (Chorus) Scottish folk songs Songs about princes Songs about flowers Jacobite songs Cultural depictions of British monarchs {{folk-song-stub