King George IV's Visit to Edinburgh

DESCRIPTION: The singer's friend Pate has come to say King George has come to visit Holyrood. They think of going to see him but decide not to risk the crowd and cold but rather to stay at home, drink some more, and toast the king from home.
AUTHOR: William Lillie (source: Greig/Duncan1)
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (Greig/Duncan1)
KEYWORDS: travel drink Scotland royalty
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Greig/Duncan1 138, "King George IV's Visit to Edinburgh" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5819
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The King's Visit
NOTES [179 words]: Greig/Duncan1: "This visit took place in August 1822." "Holyrood is the royal palace in Edinburgh"[p. 532]. - BS
The history of the joint monarchs of Great Britain was one of ignoring Scotland as much as possible. Once James I went to London, he tried to avoid ever going to Edinburgh. Charles I went to Scotland only when he had to. Charles II spent more time there when he was trying to gain the crown, but ignored it after he was restored. William III and Anne and the first three Georges all avoided a country which was far less willing to acknowledge them than was England.
The coming of George IV was therefore a fairly significant event. Commenting on the aftermath of the 1745 Jacobite rebellion, Christopher Sinclair-Stevenson, Blood Royal: The Illustrious House of Hanover (Doubleday, 1980), p. 63, remarks that "it was the English, above all George IV, who suddenly decided that the Jacobites had been wrong, but very definitely romantic." He was actually painted wearing a tartan, and started the habit of visiting Scotland that Victoria so happily followed. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: GrD1138

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