Flower Of Scotland

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For me this is the best National anthem or sporting anthem in the world. Every time I hear it sung it sens shivers down my spine and touches every part of my body. It is just unlike anything else out there.


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I have been too many sporting events where anthems are sung and I haven't heard this one live. It is on my bucket list though and one day I will have to go and watch a game at Murrayfield between England and Scotland. They are seen as the old enemy and play for the Calcutta Cup.
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A really classy looking trophy with an interesting history. Who would have thought disbanding a free bar would chase the members away resulting in this fine trophy.

I had to look that one up as Calcutta is miles away from Twickenham and Murrayfield so where did it get it's name for the trophy. Actually it is an interesting story on it's own and one that Lord Boom would love.

In 1872 20 players from England and 20 players from Scotland played a game of rugby in Calcutta. Having had so much fun they repeated it the following week and formed the Calcutta Rugby Club in 1873.

In 1874 the club prospered and joined the Rugby Football Union. The weather wasn't great for rugby however and when the free bar was discontinued membership took a serious hit. I wonder why lol. The club disbanded and withdrew the funds from the bank which were silver Rupees. They had them melted down into a trophy and presented it to the RFU in 1878 for a competition between England and Scotland which would be competed for annually.

The trophy has 3 King Cobras for handles and was made in India. The trophy has the first international date on it as 1879 and has been played for ever since. The cup was damaged in 1988 by Dean Richards (England) and John Jeffrey (Scotland) after playing football with it late one night down Princes Street in Edinburgh. Richards received a one match ban and Jeffrey a 6 month ban. Today the original is on display in the museum at Twickenham and the replicas are used for trophy presentations.



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Love snippets of history and that is a very beautiful trophy.
Anthems move me as well and as for the skirrrl of bagpipes for anything Scottish, tears pop. Shows my ancestry and love for the 'Highlands'.

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Ah, what a song. There isn't a Scottish person who doesn't feel it when it is sung. It truly is great and stirring and heartbreaking in its pathos. The second and third verses. Ah, I feel my patriotism welling up. Must fight an Englishman!!

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That's a pretty cool trophy, I wonder if it is made of sterling silver.

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Silver Rupees from 1878 . You should know more about it than me on the coin side of things.

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Very interesting. I think there are some really great anthems out there. There are also some really great college fight songs that high schools rip off for their own fight songs. :0

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Danny Bhoy, the Scottish comedian has a great conversation about that. How he compares the Scots with people with Tourette's Syndrom when singing this. Of course in a funny way! I get shivers when I hear this too!

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