Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
This song is about a battle in Scotland during the Jacobite Uprising, between the Jacobite Pretender to the throne, Bonnie Prince Charles, and Chief Jonny Cope, at the site of Prestonpans, just miles away from Edinburgh. The Jacobite Rebellion is quite a complicated subject, and also something Scotland is somewhat bitter about to this day. The battle only lasted 15 minutes and Jonny Cope fled back to Dunbar, where he was stationed at. After questioning, he was tried by court-martial in 1746 and exonerated for the failing such a battle in just minutes. The song however is sung in Scots, and not Scottish Gaelic, similar to English but hinges on being a dialect but also being kind of its own language at the same time.
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Cope sent a challenge frae Dunbar sayin:
“Charlie, meet me an ye daur,
An I'll learn ye the airt o war
If ye'll come tae the coals i’ the mornin.”
Hey, Johnnie Cope, are ye wauking yet?
O are yer drums a-beatin
Gin ye were waukin A wad wait
Tae gang tae the coals i’ the mornin.
Whan Charlie leukit the letter upon
He drew his swuird his scabbart from:
Sayin, “Follae me, ma merry men,
And we'll meet Johnnie Cope i' the mornin.”
“Fy nou Johnnie, be as guide as yer word;
And meet me thare wi fire and swuird;
And dinna flee like a frichtit bird,
That's raised frae its nest i' the mornin.”
Whan Johnnie Cope he heard o this,
He thocht it wadna be amiss
Tae hae a horse in readiness,
Tae flee frae the pans in the mornin.
Fy now, Johnnie, get up and rin;
For the Hieland bagpipes mak thair din;
It's best to sleep in yer ain hale skin,
It will be a bluidy mornin.
Whan Johnnie Cope tae Dunbar came,
Fowk speired at him, “Whare's aw yer men?”
“The Deil confoond me A daena ken,
I left thaim aw i' the mornin.”
“Trowth nou, Johnnie, ye arena blate
Tae come wi news o yer ain defeat,
And leave yer men in sic a state
Sae early in the mornin.”
“Faith,” quo Johnnie, “A gat sic a-fleg
Wi the big claymore an' the philabeg;
If A face thaim again, deil brak ma legs!
Sae A wish ye aw guid mornin.”
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This song is about a battle in Scotland during the Jacobite Uprising, between the Jacobite Pretender to the throne, Bonnie Prince Charles, and Chief Jonny Cope, at the site of Prestonpans, just miles away from Edinburgh. The Jacobite Rebellion is quite a complicated subject, and also something Scotland is somewhat bitter about to this day. The battle only lasted 15 minutes and Jonny Cope fled back to Dunbar, where he was stationed at. After questioning, he was tried by court-martial in 1746 and exonerated for the failing such a battle in just minutes. The song however is sung in Scots, and not Scottish Gaelic, similar to English but hinges on being a dialect but also being kind of its own language at the same time.
===========================
Cope sent a challenge frae Dunbar sayin:
“Charlie, meet me an ye daur,
An I'll learn ye the airt o war
If ye'll come tae the coals i’ the mornin.”
Hey, Johnnie Cope, are ye wauking yet?
O are yer drums a-beatin
Gin ye were waukin A wad wait
Tae gang tae the coals i’ the mornin.
Whan Charlie leukit the letter upon
He drew his swuird his scabbart from:
Sayin, “Follae me, ma merry men,
And we'll meet Johnnie Cope i' the mornin.”
“Fy nou Johnnie, be as guide as yer word;
And meet me thare wi fire and swuird;
And dinna flee like a frichtit bird,
That's raised frae its nest i' the mornin.”
Whan Johnnie Cope he heard o this,
He thocht it wadna be amiss
Tae hae a horse in readiness,
Tae flee frae the pans in the mornin.
Fy now, Johnnie, get up and rin;
For the Hieland bagpipes mak thair din;
It's best to sleep in yer ain hale skin,
It will be a bluidy mornin.
Whan Johnnie Cope tae Dunbar came,
Fowk speired at him, “Whare's aw yer men?”
“The Deil confoond me A daena ken,
I left thaim aw i' the mornin.”
“Trowth nou, Johnnie, ye arena blate
Tae come wi news o yer ain defeat,
And leave yer men in sic a state
Sae early in the mornin.”
“Faith,” quo Johnnie, “A gat sic a-fleg
Wi the big claymore an' the philabeg;
If A face thaim again, deil brak ma legs!
Sae A wish ye aw guid mornin.”
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