Scots cry foul over BBC theme.(Classical)

World Cup fever appears to have boiled over north of the border, thanks to the choice of Carl Davis's reworking of Handel's See The Conquering Hero Comes for the BBC's football tournament theme music.

The tune, familiar to many as the hymn Thine Be The Glory, originally surfaced in the oratorio Judas Maccabaeus, written in 1746 to celebrate "Butcher" Cumberland's victory over Bonnie Prince Charlie at the Battle of Culloden.

"The use of what could be considered by Scottish people as an offensive piece of music, written by Handel as a celebration of Cumberland's mass murder at Culloden, is hardly likely to encourage us to back England at the World Cup" wrote one contributor to the Beeb's Sport Editor's weblog. "Imagine the offence that would be caused in Germany if the BBC had chosen to use the Dambusters theme music. The idea would rightly be rejected immediately."

Carl Davis, whose Bafta award-winning television and film soundtrack credits include The World At War, the BBC's 1995 Pride And Prejudice, and the French Lieutenant's Woman, points out that the theme's Handelian starting point is about reconciliation rather than alienation.

"The BBC wanted something with a classical slant and they were inspired to choose Handel," he says, "which I thought was rather suitable, since he's a German-born composer who's come to be regarded as ...