AS a regular attender at Northern Ireland football matches, I have often wondered why we do not have our own Flower of Scotland, Land of Hope and Glory etc.
I have made my own attempt with words to the tune of Danny Boy (synonymous with here).
This reflects the fact that there are two peoples and two nations on this island – hence two national football teams. (Ulster should also have its own rugby tea
m).
To avoid ongoing confusion, Northern Ireland should be renamed Ulster – its historically correct name.
The name Ulster derives from the ancient kingdom of Ulidia (which had its own kings, army and border – the Black Pigs Dyke). This should not be confused with the later Elizabethan province. Many descendants of ancient Ulster people expelled to Scotland by the Gaels returned in the so-called plantation.
A new anthem and Ulster national rugby team would help eliminate confusion at home and abroad about the existence of two peoples and two nations on this island.
My own effort may not be any good or inclusive enough.
However, perhaps the News Letter could initiate a competition to write something that would fill this obvious gap.
In my opinion, such an anthem would be educational and increase awareness of their own identity among the Ulster British.
It should commemorate/celebrate historical events held dear in the Ulster psyche (or seminal moments in Ulster history), particularly those that have allowed the Ulster British to remain a free people/maintain our right to national self-determination (particularly when Irish attempts to usurp that right have been thwarted).
Examples of such events include the ancient battle of Moira and the flight to Scotland, the return in the plantation, the Slaughtered of 1641, the siege of Derry and the Boyne, the Ulster Diaspora to America, 1798, the Rising Sons of 1912, the Somme, resistance to Irish interference since 1920, industry and commerce and all other aspects that weave together to form our collective folk memory and identity.
Anthem:
Ulidia
Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling,
Ulidia, land of drumlin and dolmen,
From glen to glen, and down the mountain side,
Cruthin, Norman, Gael and Anglo Saxon,
The summer's gone, and all the flowers are dying,
All landed upon Setanta's verdant plain,
'Tis you, 'tis you must go and I must bide.
From rath to bawn defended fort like hame.
But come ye back when summers in the meadow
Saint Patrick's message burn-ed bright from Bangor,
Or when the valleys hushed and white with snow
For faith your sons shut gates on Jacobites,
'Tis I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow
In Covenant they found Appalachian Zion,
Oh Danny boy, oh Danny boy, I love you so.
From new won lands, unfettered free, rose Presidents.
And if you come, when all the flowers are dying
From your shipyards sailed tall ships a mig-ht-y,
And I am dead, as dead I well may be
Flaxen fields grew mills that wove fine linen,
You'll come and find the place where I am lying
Hands used to anvil forged nation at Redoubt
And kneel and say an 'Ave' there for me.
To win your freedom from your ancient foe.
And I shall hear, tho' soft you tread above me
Both harp and flute, have played their song of sorrow,
And all my dreams will warm and sweeter be
When oft told myth lost sight of common bond,
If you'll not fail to tell me that you love me
But let us build entwined as ancient kindred,
I'll simply sleep in peace until you come to me
Strong as Mourne-hewn granite Ulster at peace and free.
Northern Ireland fan,
Belfast
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