"The Clansman" was inspired by the film Braveheart which Steve Harris states is "about what it's like to belong to a community that you try and build up and then you have to fight to stop having it taken away from you".
Its a track of the Virtual XI album, one of two to feature vocalist Blayze Bayley inspead of the usual Bruce Dickinson vocals. Dickinson had a hiatus from the band at this time in the mid to late 1990's to pursue solo aspirations, but returned to maiden with the triumphant Brave New World album that followed subsequently.