Flowers of the Forest: a bagpiper at the funeral of HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, at Windsor

At Gordonstoun, which Philip attended as a schoolboy, a 17-year old piper also stood on the roof by the school's flag at half mast and played "Flowers Of The Forest". The piper walks from the North Quire Aisle to The Dean’s Cloister.
Saturday 17 April 2021

A little background:
A lament for the army of James IV, the flower of Scottish manhood, slain with their king on the field of Flodden, September 1513. The composition of this song began with a fragment of a very old ballad. Mrs Patrick Cockburn of Ormiston drew on this fragment to write a full song. Then in the mid 18th century Miss Jane Elliot, daughter of Sir Gilbert Elliot of Minto, Lord Chief Justice Clerk of Scotland, drew on Mrs Cockburn’s work to make this lyric a much finer piece of work.

Others add: the Scottish "Forest" was a district and Royal forest comprising Selkirkshire (alternatively known as Ettrick Forest or the Shire of the Forest), large parts of Peeblesshire and parts of Clydesdale, known for its archers. The archers of Ettrick Forest earned the epithet "Flowers of the Forest" at the Battle of Falkirk in 1298, and formed the bodyguard of King James IV at Flodden (September 1513), where their corpses were found surrounding their dead monarch.

Poet Jean Elliot wrote lyrics for the ancient tune sometime about 1757. Her refrain is haunting, “The Flooers of the Forest are a’ wede awa’ “. Translated from Scots dialect, it means, “The Flowers of the Forest are all wilted away.”

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