"Scotland's Burning", also known in England as "London's Burning", is a variant of a song and

nursery rhyme A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and other European countries, but usage of the term dates only from the late 18th/early 19th century. The term Mother Goose rhymes is interchangeable with nursery rhymes. Fr ...

popular with children.

Words

The song can be sung as a

round Round or rounds may refer to: Mathematics and science * Having no sharp corners, as an ellipse, circle, or sphere * Rounding, reducing the number of significant figures in a number * Round number, ending with one or more zeroes * Round (crypt ...

when each part starts two bars after the previous one. It may be an example of a nursery rhyme with tragic or violent themes. The London lyrics are said to be about the

Great Fire of London The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through central London from Sunday 2 September to Wednesday 5 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old London Wall, Roman city wall, while also extendi ...

, a five-day fire in the city of London in 1666. The first

notation In linguistics and semiotics, a notation system is a system of graphics or symbols, Character_(symbol), characters and abbreviated Expression (language), expressions, used (for example) in Artistic disciplines, artistic and scientific disciplines ...

of a round in this theme dates from 1580. The Scotland lyrics are said to be about the

Burning of Edinburgh The Burning of Edinburgh in 1544 by an English army was the first major action of the war of the Rough Wooing. The Provost of Edinburgh was compelled to allow the English to sack Leith and Edinburgh, and the city was burnt on 7 May. However, ...

in 1544, ordered by

Henry VIII of England Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

.Bert van Zantwijk, Brand in Mokum (2016)
/ref> The lyrics are alluded to in

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's ''

The Taming of the Shrew ''The Taming of the Shrew'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1592. The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunke ...

'', Act 4, scene 1, when Grumio asks Curtis to prepare a warm fire for guests. In the Netherlands the song is known as "" ("Fire in Amsterdam") Dutch Wikipedia, Brand in Mokum, which is said to refer to the

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

revolt against

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

in 1813.

Musical scores

References

External links

Downloadable sheet music and mp3s
Rounds (music) British nursery rhymes English children's songs Traditional children's songs Songs about Scotland Scottish children's songs {{song-stub