THERE WAS A BONNY LASS. There was a bonny lass, and a bonny, bonny lass, Till war's loud alarms tore her laddie frae her arms, Over sea, over shore, where the cannons loudly roar, And nought could him quail, or his bosom assail, CROWDIE. O that I had ne'er been married, Ye'll crowdie a' my meal away. Waefu' want and hunger fley me, Sair I fecht them at the door, But aye I'm eerie they come ben. ['The first verse of this song is old; the second was written by Burns.'-STENHOUSE.] NOTES TO JOHNSON'S SCOTS MUSICAL MUSEUM. [In the latter part of his life, Burns procured an interleaved copy of Johnson's Scots Musical Museum, for the purpose of concentrating in that place his remarks on Scottish songs and airs, and all that he knew of their authors. The copy thus annotated he presented to Captain Riddel of Glenriddel, whose niece, Eliza Bayley, of Manchester, latterly possessed it. Most of the notes are merely indications of an author's name, or of a simple fact respecting the locality or origin of the song. Such of them as possess any general interest are here presented.] O OPEN THE DOOR, LORD GREGORY. It is somewhat singular, that in Lanark, Renfrew, Ayr, Wigton, Kirkcudbright, and Dumfries shires, there is scarcely an old song or tune which, from the title, &c., can be guessed to belong to, or be the production of, these counties. This, I conjecture, is one of these very few; as the ballad, which is a long one, is called, both by tradition and in printed collections, The Lass of Lochryan, which I take to be Lochryan, in Galloway. CLOUT THE CALDRON. A tradition is mentioned in the Bee, that the second Bishop Chisholm of Dumblane, used to say, that if he were going to be hanged, nothing would soothe his mind so much by the way as to hear Clout the Caldron played. I have met with another tradition, that the old song to this tune Hae ye ony pots or pans, Or ony broken chanlers? was composed on one of the Kenmure family, in the cavalier times, and alluded to an amour he had, while under hiding, in the disguise of an itinerant tinker. The air is also known by the name of The Blacksmith and his Apron, which, from the rhythm, seems to have been a line of some old song to the tune. SAW YE MY PEGGY? This charming song is much older, and, indeed, superior to Ramsay's verses, The Toast, as he calls them. There is another set of the words, much older still, and which I take to be the original one; but though it has a very great deal of merit, it is not quite ladies' reading. The original words, for they can scarcely be called verses, seem to be as follow-a song familiar from the cradle to every Scottish ear: Saw ye my Maggie, Saw ye my Maggie, Saw ye my Maggie Linkin' o'er the lea? High kilted was she, High kilted was she, High kilted was she, Her coat aboon her knee, &c. Though it by no means follows that the silliest verses to an air must, for that reason, be the original song, yet I take this ballad, of which I have quoted part, to be old verses. The two songs in Ramsay, one of them evidently his own, are never to be met with in the fireside circle of our peasantry; while that which I take to be the old song is in every shepherd's mouth. Ramsay, I suppose, had thought the old verses unworthy of a place in his collection. THE FLOWERS OF EDINBURG H. This song is one of the many effusions of Scots Jacobitism. The title, Flowers of Edinburgh, has no manner of connection with the present verses; so I suspect there has been an older set of words, of which the title is all that remains. By the by, it is singular enough that the Scottish Muses were all Jacobites. I have paid more attention to every description of Scots songs than perhaps anybody living has done, and I do not recollect one single stanza, or even the title, of the most trifling Scots air, which has the least panegyrical reference to the families of Nassau or Brunswick, while there are hundreds satirising them. This may be thought no panegyric on the Scots poets, but I mean it as such. For myself, I would always take it as a compliment to have it said that my heart ran before my head-and surely the gallant, though unfortunate House of Stuart, the kings of our fathers for so many heroic ages, is a theme FYE, GAE RUB HER O'ER WI STRA E. It is self-evident, that the first four lines of this song are part of a song more ancient than Ramsay's beautiful verses which are annexed to them. As music is the language of nature; and poetry, particularly songs, are always less or more localised (if I may be allowed the verb) by some of the modifications of time and place, this is the reason why so many of our Scots airs have outlived their original, and perhaps many subsequent sets of verses, except a single name, or phrase, or sometimes one or two lines, simply to distinguish the tunes by. To this day, among people who know nothing of Ramsay's verses, the following is the song, and all the song that ever I heard : Gin ye meet a bonny lassie, Gie her a kiss and let her gae; Fye, gae rub her, rub her, rub her, Fye, gae rub her o'er wi' strae. THE LAST TIME I CAME O'ER THE MUIR. [The last time I came o'er the muir, I left my love behind me ; Ye gods, what pains do I endure, When saft ideas mind me, &c.] Ramsay found the first line of this song, which had been preserved as the title of the charming air,' and then composed the rest of the verses to suit that line. This has always a finer effect than composing English words, or words with an idea foreign to the spirit of the old title. Where old titles of songs convey any idea at all, it will generally be found to be quite in the spirit of the air. HIGHLAND LADDIE. As this was a favourite theme with our later Scottish Muses, there are several airs and songs of that name. That which I take to be the oldest, is to be found in the Musical Museum, beginning, 'I hae been at Crookie-den.' One reason for my thinking so is, that Oswald has it in his collection by the name of The Auld Highland Laddie. It is also known by the name of Jinglan Johnnie, which is 1 [The title of this air in the Skene manuscript, circa 1620, is Alace that I cam o'er the Muir, and left my Love behind me.] a well-known song of four or five stanzas, and seems to be an earlier song than Jacobite times. As a proof of this, it is little known to the peasantry by the name of Highland Laddie, while everybody knows Jinglan Johnnie. The song begins Jinglan John, the meikle man, He met wi' a lass was blithe and bonny. Another Highland Laddie is also in the Museum, vol. v., which I take to be Ramsay's original, as he has borrowed the chorus, O my bonny Highland Lad, &c. It consists of three stanzas, besides the chorus, and has humour in its composition-it is an excellent, but somewhat licentious song. It begins As I cam o'er Cairney-Mount, And down amang the blooming heather. This air, and the common Highland Laddie, seem only to be different sets. Another Highland Laddie, also in the Museum, vol. v., is the tune of several Jacobite fragments. One of these old songs to it, only exists, as far as I know, in these four lines Whare hae ye been a' day, Bonny laddie, Highland laddie? Courtin' Maggie, courtin' Maggie. Another of this name is Dr Arne's beautiful air, called the new Highland Laddie. FAIREST OF THE FAIR. It is too barefaced to take Dr Percy's charming song, and, by means of transposing a few English words into Scots, to offer to pass it for a Scots song. I was not acquainted with the editor until the first volume was nearly finished, else, had I known in time, I would have prevented such an impudent absurdity. THE BLAITHRIE O'T.1 The following is a set of this song, which was the earliest song I remember to have got by heart. When a child, an old woman sang it to me, and I picked it up, every word, at first hearing : 1 O Willy, weel I mind, I lent you my hand, [Shame fall the gear and the blad'ry o't,' is the turn of an old Scottish song, spoken when a young handsome girl marries an old man upon the account of his wealth,—Kelly's Scots Proverbs, p. 296.] |