Ye Jacobites by Name by Robert Burns

A speaker blames the Jacobites' doctrines and pits legal richt and wrang against swords and the strength o the arms that draw them. The speaker questions whether whettin an assassin's knife or huntin a parent's life makes heroic strife, then bids the Jacobites leave their state schemes alane and an undone man tae his fate.

By Robert Burns · Genre: Political Poetry, Anti-War Literature, Lyric Poetry · 234 words

First lines

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?

• Open reader

Genres

• Political Poetry — The speaker challenges Jacobite doctrines, questions law's richt and wrang, and bids the faction leave its schemes in the state alane.
• Anti-War Literature — The verse questions heroic strife by settin it beside an assassin's knife and the hunt for a parent's life through bluidy war.
• Lyric Poetry — The fower stanzas repeat their opening phrases and short refrains, giein the speaker's rebuke a sang form.

Tags

richt and wrang · law · bluidy war · political strife · sang

What this Textopian page supports

Ye Jacobites by Name is listed on Textopian as a poem by Robert Burns, dated Date unknown.

This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.

• Work type: Poem
• Author: Robert Burns
• Date: Date unknown
• Genres: Political Poetry, Anti-War Literature, Lyric Poetry
• Length: 234 words
• Structure: 1 section, 4 paragraphs
• Reading fit: Very Easy (5th Grade or below)

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• Work identity for Ye Jacobites by Name by Robert Burns
• Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
• Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
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More by Robert Burns

• Handsome Nell (1808)
• O Tibbie, I Hae Seen the Day (1786)
• I Dream'D I Lay (1792)
• In the Character of a Ruined Farmer (1786)
• Tragic Fragment (1786)
• The Tarbolton Lasses (1808)
• Ah, Woe is me, my Mother Dear (1808)
• Montgomerie's Peggy (1790)
• All works by Robert Burns