WHAT’S THE STORY?

THE decision of the BBC to have both Rule Britannia and Land Of Hope And Glory played on instruments rather than sung at the Last Night of the Proms has everyone from Boris Johnson to Piers Morgan up in arms.

Actor Laurence Fox said the decision came from a “Britain-hating” BBC and called for the TV licence to be withdrawn.

He tweeted: “Defund this shameful, Britain-hating organisation and start again. The lunatics are in charge of the asylum #Defund the BBC.”

But hold on a minute. This is a complete non-issue brought up by British nationalists who don’t seem to realise that the annual excess of flag-waving jingoism that is the Last Night just isn’t going to take place.

READ MORE: WATCH: Tory MP dances to Rule Britannia to show what's 'best about British'

The BBC has specifically said it is going to have both songs played at the concert, it’s just that they won’t be sung vocally for the pretty obvious reason that there isn’t going to be any audience in the Royal Albert Hall to sing them.

The problem with both songs is the words. It took broadcaster Vanessa Feltz to explain why Land Of Hope And Glory might no longer be politically correct: “One of the lyrics of course of Land Of Hope And Glory [is] “Wider still and wider, shall thy bounds be set. So God who made thee mighty, make thee mightier still”.

“In other words, expand your empire so your boundaries are wider and wider and you take over more and more other countries. That is what the lyrics are. You can’t change them because you’ve sung them for 90 years and thoroughly enjoyed it.

“I’ve certainly waved a flag myself and I love that song, I adore it. But, if it’s deeply hurtful, should it be maybe just replaced by an orchestral accompaniment to the tune? As for Rule Britannia, the great song of the empire has the refrain “Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves! Britons never, never, never shall be slaves.”

Yes, but Britannia turned hundreds of thousands of Africans into slaves so perhaps we might need a rethink on those lyrics.

And here is the huge irony in all those patriotic English people giving it laldy with the song

whose music was written by Thomas Arne – the words came from a poem by a Scot, James Thomson. He wrote them in 1740, just 33 years after the Act of Union, and was clearly playing to the gallery as he was a constant promoter of the Union.

So when people promote Rule Britannia as an English national anthem they should be aware that it was created by a Scot. Just like the Bank of England.

WHAT SHOULD ENGLAND’S NATIONAL ANTHEM BE?

IT shouldn’t be God Save The Queen, which is the anthem of the United Kingdom – though curiously enough there’s no law to say that – but usually it is sung by the English as their own. That offends many Scots who now feel God Save The Queen is not ours in any way.

God Save The Queen’s tune was actually finalised by Arne at the time of the 1745 Jacobite Rising. A later version of the tune was produced by a Scot, James Oswald, but never accepted.

Scots are always told that there was a verse in God Save The Queen as follows:

Lord, grant that Marshal Wade,

May by thy mighty aid,

Victory bring.

May he sedition hush,

and like a torrent rush,

Rebellious Scots to crush,

God save the King.

That verse did indeed arise in 1745 but was never standardised. Indeed, the original lyrics published in Gentleman’s Magazine in 1745 have hardly changed since:

God save great George our king,

Long live our noble king,

God save the king.

Send him victorious,

Happy and glorious,

Long to reign over us,

God save the king.

There have been numerous attempts to rewrite the lyrics down the centuries but the original has stuck.

England’s national anthem has never been decided. Land of Hope and Glory and Jerusalem are the two best candidates, with I Vow To Thee My Country another candidate.

There have been several attempts this century to legislate for an English national anthem – would Scots MPs have had a vote? – but all have failed. Interestingly, in 2010, England’s Commonwealth Games Council asked the public what anthem should be played for the English team. They offered God Save The Queen, but Jerusalem won the vote with a 52% majority.

FOR THAT MATTER, WHAT SHOULD SCOTLAND’S BE?

FLOWER of Scotland always wins in the polls, but the lyrics aren’t neighbour-friendly. Scots Wha Hae was at one time seriously promoted, so was Scotland The Brave whose lyrics were only penned by Cliff Hanley in 1950. It’s a fact that the Robert Burns Federation once issued a songbook of Burns’s best known songs and at the top of the music and words for one of those songs it was described as Scotland’s national anthem – Auld Lang Syne.

READ MORE: Boris Johnson calls for end to ‘wetness’ as BBC chief backs Proms decision

Hamish Henderson’s Freedom Come-All-Ye would be in with a shout, as would A Man’s A Man.

The National has learned that, even now, a Scottish lyricist is working on words to the classic tune Highland Cathedral. Might that be the answer?

Anyway, it’s time we had a new sang tae sing because the auld sang stopped in 1707 and we need a one for a new Scotland. Maybe somebody out there has new words to an old song. Let us know at community@the national.scot.

WHO HAS THE BEST ANTHEM?

DON’T be silly – the best national anthem in the world is France’s La Marseillaise. No argument. At least until we get our own.