Robert Burns speaks directly to the Jacobites, those who backed the exiled Stuart line, and his tone is far from heroic. He tells them their doctrines are wrong, their cause lawless. When he asks what is “Right and what is Wrang by the law,” the answer is stark: a “short sword, and a lang,” a weak arm and a strong one—violence decides, not justice. He then strips the glamour from “heroic strife,” calling it sharpening an assassin’s knife or hunting a parent’s life, a savage civil war. The refrain’s jaunty rhythm only sharpens the taunt. By the end, the advice is blunt: give up your schemes, “adore the rising sun” (the Hanoverian king already in power), and leave a man to his fate. The mood is sardonic and weary, as if Burns is scolding stubborn dreamers for clinging to a lost, bloody cause.
347. Song—Ye Jacobites by Name — Summary
YE Jacobites by name, give an ear, give an ear, Ye Jacobites by name, give an ear, Ye Jacobites by name, Your fautes I will proclaim, Your doctrines I maun blame, you shall hear.
What is Right, and What is Wrang, by the law, by the law? What is Right and what is Wrang by the law? What is Right, and what is Wrang? A short sword, and a lang, A weak arm and a strang, for to draw.
What makes heroic strife, famed afar, famed afar? What makes heroic strife famed afar? What makes heroic strife? To whet th’ assassin’s knife, Or hunt a Parent’s life, wi’ bluidy war?
Then let your schemes alone, in the state, in the state, Then let your schemes alone in the state. Then let your schemes alone, Adore the rising sun, And leave a man undone, to his fate.