Robert Burns' nationalist ballads, John Barleycorn and Robert Bruce's March to Bannockburn, each separately capture the revolutionary vehemence of rural Scots.
In Barleycorn, Burns personifies Scotland and Scottish patriotism in the form of an elusive, durable folk hero; Scotland was a country substantiated primarily on agriculture (hence Barleycorn), and sworn enemy of England (I'm assuming this is the three kings, as, at the time of compilation, England was operating as a United Kingdom of Britain and Wales, with Ireland as a satellite -the third king). Obviously, the poem speaks for itself: Scotland and her industry has been trodden under the yoke of an undeserving England. However, their is hope in the fact that John Barleycorn would seem immortal, and that, though he has been slain once again, Spring may yet arrive.
Then, in Bannockburn, Burns shifts his focus to a real-life, unembellished figure. Robert the Bruce is a hero plucked directly from the pages of history; the words of his galvanizing speech are fabricated, but his deeds are not. By drawing on so great a historical figure, Burns makes the nationalist sentiment he hopes to inspire much more palpable.
I agree with your characterization of Burns’s John Barleycorn and Robert Bruce's March to Bannockburn as works of nationalistic sentiments. His use of emotion, exclamations, and Scottish imagery evoke a sense of pride and nostalgia for the home land. In these works, Burns is using history for literary purposes. Conversely, Scott’s poems rely more heavily on ideologies, sentiments, and values to explore his different levels of form. He returns to medieval and romantic figures to reflect on chivalric traditions. Ultimately, both focus on the influence of literary tradition through the exploration of history.
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