A Scottish Soldier chords

by Andy Stewart
  • A Scottish Soldier lyrics were written by Andy Stewart and is featured on the album of the same name.
  • The song is about a dying Scottish Soldier who would rather die in his homeland, than die in the war-torn fields of Tyrol, formerly a province of Austria.
  • The lyrics were adapted to the tune, The Green Hills of Tyrol.
  • Music: Starts in D Major with a key change for instrumental to A Major in 6/8 OR 3/4 time at ~ 90 bpm in 3/4 time OR 180 bpm in 6/8 time.
  • Chords: D, A, A7, G, E, E7
  • Video Key: E♭ Major with a key change for instrumental to B♭ 
  • Capo: 1st fret if playing with the video.
Chart Legend
Numbered Circles: Fingers used to play chords   O: Optional Note
Barre Line: One finger holds down multiple strings   R: Root Note
Unmarked strings: Play open   X: Don't play string    B: Bass Note
D Major A Major A7 G Major E Major E7
D Major A Major A7 G Major E Major E7

A Scottish Soldier

Song Key is highlighted - Transpose to any other key
  
              D    G    D    G    D    G    A
Intro: 3/4 |    /    |    /    |    /    |     |

               D
1. There was a sol-dier, a Scot-tish sol-dier
                 A             A7         D
   Who wan-dered far a-way and sol-diered far a-way
                  D
   There was none bold-er, with good broad shoul-der
                  A                 A7         D
   He's fought in ma-ny a fray, and fought and won
                 D
   He'd seen the glo-ry and told the sto-ry
              A              A7        D
   Of battles glo-ri-ous and deeds vic-to-ri-ous
                D
   But now he's sigh-ing, his heart is cry-ing
                  A           A7    D
   To leave these green hills of Ty-rol

                       G                   D
Chorus: Be-cause these green hills are not high-land hills
               A              A7          D
        Or the is-land hills, they're not my land's hills
                    G                    D
        And fair as these green fo-reign hills may be                𝄐
                 A              A7   D      G    D    G    D    G    A
        They are not the hills  of | home /    |    /    |    /   |     |

                D
2. And now this sol-dier, this Scot-tish sol-dier
                 A             A7         D
   Who wan-dered far a-way and sol-diered far a-way
                   D
   Sees leaves are fal-ling and death is cal-ling
               A              A7       D
   And he will fade a-way, in that far land
                 D
   He called his pi-per, his trus-ty pi-per
                A                A7       D
   And bade him sound a lay... a pi-broch sad to play
           D
   U-pon a hill-side, a Scot-tish hill-side
                A           A7   D
   Not on these green hills of T-yrol

                       G                   D
Chorus: Be-cause these green hills are not high-land hills
               A              A7          D
        Or the is-land hills, they're not my land's hills
                    G                    D
        And fair as these green fo-reign hills may be               𝄐
                 A              A7   D      G    D   G    D   G     A
        They are not the hills  of | home /    |   /    |   /    |     |

Bagpipe Instrumental: (key change to A Major)

           A            E    E7    A                 E    E7    A
        ‖     |  𝄎   |    /     |     |  𝄎  |  𝄎  |    /    |      ‖

            D     A    E     E7    A     D     A     E    E7    A
        ‖:     |     |    /     |     |     |     |    /     |    :‖ 

                     (key change back to D Major)

               D
3. And so this sol-dier, this Scot-tish sol-dier
                A               A7       D
   Will wan-der far no more and sol-dier far no more
            D
   And on a hill-ide, a Scot-tish hill-side
                   A               A7       D
   You'll see that pi-per play his sol-dier home
                 D
   He's seen the glo-ry, he's told the sto-ry
              A              A7        D
   Of battles glo-ri-ous and deeds vic-to-ri-ous
               D
   The bu-gles cease now, he is at peace now
                  A           A7    D
   Far from those green hills of Ty-rol

                       G                   D
Chorus: Be-cause these green hills are not high-land hills
               A              A7          D
        Or the is-land hills, they're not my land's hills
                    G                    D
        And fair as these green fo-reign hills may be
                 A             A7   D
        They are not the hills of   home

                        G                   D
Chorus: Al-though those green hills are not high-land hills
               A              A7          D
        Or the is-land hills, they're not my land's hills
                    G                    D
        And fair as these green fo-reign hills may be
                 A             A7  D
        They are not the hills of  home

              G                   D
Chorus: Those green hills are not high-land hills
               A              A7          D
        Or the is-land hills, they're not my land's hills
                    G                    D
        And fair as these green fo-reign hills may be               
                 A              A7   D      G   D   G   D     A
        They are not the hills  of | home /   |   /   |    |  𝄑  |
    

Notes:

  • Level Of Ease: Very Easy with a capo
  • 6/8 OR 3/4 Time: Due to the lhythm of the song, it feels more like 6/8 time, however by halving the lhythm, we arrive at 3/4 time. I have used 3/4 time in the charts as it may be easier to understand for the majority of users.

    6/8 time: 6 eighth-note beats per bar wich can be counted as | 1 2 3 4 5 6 |

    3/4 time: 3 quarter-note beats per bar. This can be counted as | 1 2 3 | or |1& 2& 3&|

    If you count each bar as |1& 2& 3&|, it is in actual fact the same as counting | 1 2 3 4 5 6 | in terms of beats per bar (6/8 time).
  • | E / E7 | means you play E for 2 beats and E7 for 1 beat. The / is a 'simile mark', commonly referred to as a 'repeat sign' whereby the previous chord in the bar is repeated. The same applies to | D / G | - D for 2 beats and G for 1 beat.

Andy Stewart

Andy Stewart
Andy Stewart

Born: Andrew Stewart on the 30th December 1933 in Glasgow, Scotland

Occupation: Singer/song-writer, entertainer, compere, comedian, impressionist

Active Years: 1955 - 1993

Music Styles: Folk Music & Comedy Music

Awards: MBE in 1976, Freedom Of Angus in 1987

Died: Arbroath, Angus, Scotland on the 11th October, 1993 after long bouts of ill-health including triple by-pass heart surgery in 1976 and again in 1991.

TV Show: Compere of 'The White Heather Club' from 1957-1968 (variety show)

Chart Success: A Scottish Soldier Reached No 1 in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand; 31 weeks in the UK singles chart in 1961; spent over a year in the top 50 in the U.S.

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