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And so, to the song(s)

The original song (lyrics here) celebrates Foyers for his bravery and his desire to fight alongside his fellow soldiers to stop Napoleon. In the eyes of the original songwriter, Foyers’s life and death were to be celebrated because defeating Napoleon was a hugely important achievement. Whether it was a noble achievement, with the British as the “good guys” and Napoleon as the “bad guy,” is open to interpretation. We certainly won’t be analyzing this question here except to say that this writer believes it is a question worth analyzing.

MacColl’s song includes a mixture of Scots and English. His Jamie Foyers is the cream of the crop–a noble, committed, and passionate socialist, he’s great at everything. Clearly, this idealism serves MacColl’s narrative of the best dying for the rest. He starts the song off with almost the same beginning as the original. MacColl makes only one change, to replace “Scotia” with “Foyers.”

“Faur distant, faur distant, lies Foyers the brave
Nae tombstone memorial shall hallow his grave
For his bones they lie scattered on the rude soil o Spain
An young Jamie Foyers in battle wis slain.”

MacColl completely changes the setting in the second verse. We get this wonderful picture of Foyers’s work tools hanging in their usual place, never to be touched or used again. His former workmates notice them as they arrive and leave the shipyard. This picture of the tools is, in itself, a kind of a memorial. MacColl states the purpose of the song, not only to tell the story of the symbolic Foyers, but also to tell the story of the International Brigade.

“He’s gane frae the shipyaird that stauns on the Clyde
His haimmer lies idle, his tools laid aside
Tae the wide Ebro river young Foyers has gane
Tae fight by the side o the people o Spain.”

MacColl again goes for the “greatest generation” narrative. He shows in beautiful, simple terms a full life lived in every aspect. This is a genius at work here, weaving a heart-rendering picture of sacrifice and loss. His Foyers is someone tangible. He imagines him participating in everything he can.

“Thair wisnae his equal at wark or at play
He wis strang in the Union till his dying day
He wis grand at the fitbaa, at the dance he wis braw  
Young Jamie Foyers wis the flouer o thais aa.”

“He cam hame frae the shipyaird, took aff his warkin claes
O, A mind the time weill in the lang simmer’s days
He said, “Thinknae lang, lassie, A’ll come back again”
But young Jamie Foyers in battle was slain.”

MacColl goes straight to real history in the penultimate verse – the battle of Belchite in August and September 1937. The English-speaking XV International Brigade fought alongside the government troops to take a series of towns in this area. They encountered stiff resistance from the fascist forces. MacColl has his hero winning at Belchite, arguably a government victory, and he had him meeting his demise in 1938 at the battle of Gandesa. The XV Brigade put up a fierce resistance, and held off the fascist forces for some time. Ultimately Franco’s forces were victorious and over 140 British and U.S troops were taken prisoner.

“In the fight for Belchite, he was aye tae the fore
An he focht at Gandesa till he couldnae fight more
For he lay owre his machine gun wi a bullet in his brain
An young Jamie Foyers in battle was slain.”

“Faur distant, faur distant, lies Foyers the brave
Nae tombstone memorial shall hallow his grave
For his bones they lie scattered on the rude soil o Spain
An young Jamie Foyers in battle was slain.”

Aftermath

MacColl’s “Jamie Foyers” is a memorial to all the members of the XV International Brigade. In it, MacColl continues the Burns tradition of adapting older songs and giving them a contemporary feel.

The statue of La Passionara stands on the banks of the River Clyde in Glasgow as a memorial to all the Scots who fought in the Spanish Civil War. The figure of La Passionara was a real life woman called Dolores Ibarruri. As it became clear that the Fascists were going to win the war in 1939, Ibarruri made this speech to departing members of the International Brigade.

“Comrades of the International Brigades! Political reasons, reasons of state, the good of that same cause for which you offered your blood with limitless generosity, send some of you back to your countries and some to forced exile. You can go with pride. You are history. You are legend. You are the heroic example of the solidarity and the universality of democracy We will not forget you; and, when the olive tree of peace puts forth its leaves, entwined with the laurels of the Spanish Republic’s victory, come back!”

There are echoes of Burns’s “Tree of Liberty” in Ibarruri’s speech. I will finish with the best cover version of MacColl’s “Jamie Foyers.” This version is sung by the wonderful Dick Gaughan. Gaughan’s beautiful voice has never been better as he tells the story of “the flouer o’thais aa!”