When Hamish Henderson wrote the ‘Freedom Come All Ye’ back in 1960, a wind of change was blowing around the world. Old empires were falling. Old certainties were vanishing before an older generation’s eyes. It was written before anyone was really aware of the way that decade would change our perceptions; yet his perceptive lyrics, written in a form of Scots which even then was fading from daily use, foresaw a better, fairer, multi-racial world.
Nelson Mandela Place in Glasgow
Where the South African consulate was based
The country which tried to resist that change the most was South Africa. In 1960, Nelson Mandela had yet to see the inside of the prison on Robben Island but was well known as a fighter for freedom and justice. The apartheid regime was ultimately doomed – but what followed was so different from what many had feared. As no doubt many are observing this morning, much of that had to do with the leadership of Mandela himself.
Nelson Mandela visited Glasgow 20 years ago. The city had taken a stand as a result of the efforts of the Scottish anti-apartheid activist, Brian Filling, who campaigned from the 1960s against the system in South Africa. In a speech delivered at the City Chambers in 1993, Mr Mandela praised the “Citizens of Glasgow” for their decision to offer him the Freedom of the City while he had still been in prison, the first in the world to do so.
“While we were physically denied our freedom in the country of our birth, a city 6,000 miles away, and as renowned as Glasgow, refused to accept the legitimacy of the apartheid system, and declared us to be free.”
So it may be that his death will be mourned more in Glasgow and indeed Scotland as a whole than in some other places. The First Minister, Alex Salmond said that the world had “lost a towering statesman and the outstanding political leader of his generation. The world is a poorer place for his passing, and our thoughts are with Mr Mandela’s family and the people of South Africa”
The final verse of Hamish Henderson’s lilting song, and especially the last two lines, in many ways sums up Nelson Mandela’s achievement. He was indeed the one who brought the fell gallows of the burghers down.
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Sae come aa ye at hame wi freedom
Never heed whit the houdies croak for Doom
In yer hoose aa the bairns o Adam
Will find breid, barley-bree an paintit room
When Maclean meets wi’s friens in Springburn
Aa thae roses an geans will turn tae blume
An yon black boy frae yont Nyanga
Dings the fell gallows o the burghers doun.