Thursday 4 October 2018
Tune of the Day: The Campbells Are Coming
Traditional Scottish country dance and march tune
In The Book of World Famous Music (1966), James J. Fuld notes that this tune was mentioned in a letter dated 1716, but was not printed until 1745, when it appeared in James Oswald's The Caledonian Pocket Companion. It may have been inspired by the war of the Jacobite rising of 1715, as John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll, was the loyalist war leader and many Scottish loyalists were Campbells.
Like many Scottish songs which are actually traditional or of unknown origin, this song is often attributed to the Scottish national poet Robert Burns. Burns did in fact write a version of it with some different verses, which was published in The Scots Musical Museum (1797).