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THE GLEN COLLECTION OF SCOTTISH MUSIC
Presented by Lady DOROTHEA Ruggles-Brise to the National Library of Scotland, in memory of her brother, Major LoRD GEORGE Stewart Murray, Black Watch, killed in action in France in 1914.
28th January 1927.
Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive
in 2011 witii funding from
National Library of Scotland
http://www.archive.org/details/songsofscotland01grah
> ^ALL.:-. ' 'U -a
THE
SONGS OF SCOTLAND
ADAPTED TO THEIR APPROPIUATE MELODIES
ARRANGED WITH PIANOFORTE ACCOMPANIMENTS BY
G. F. GRAHAM, T. M. MUDIB, J. T. SURENNE, H. E. DIBDIN,
FINLAY DUN, &c.
SlhtStrateb ifit^ ^igtovicat, SBiogra^j^icnl, anb Sritical 3lottccS
BY GEORGE FAEQUHAR GRAHAM,
AUTHOR or THE ARTICLE " MUSIC " IN THE SEVENTH EDITION OF THE ENOYCLOP.EDIA BRITANNICA, ETC. ETC.
VOL. II.
WOOD AND CO., 12, WATERLOO PLACE, EDINBURGH;
J. MUIR WOOD AND CO., 42, BUCHANAN STREET, GLASGOW ;
OLIVER & BOYD, EDINBURGH; CRAMER, BE ALE, & CHAPPELL, REGENT STREET; CHAPPEIX,
NEW BOND STREET; ADDISON & HODSON, REGENT STREET; J. ALFRED NOVELLO,
DEAN STREET; AND SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, & CO., LONDON.
MDCCCXLVIII.
EDINBURGH ; PRINTED BY T. CONSTABLE, PRINTER TO HER JIAJESTY.
INDEX
TO THE FIRST LINES OF THE SONGS IN THE SECOND VOLUME.
PAGE
92
64
144
18
114
118
30
146
128
112
108
76
32
SO
10
6
70
152
167
ISO
147
164
48
136
148
S8
62
130
16
140
72
86
52
122
1S4
Now bank and brae are clad in green, {App. 164,) 120 Now in her green mantle blythe Nature arrays, 66
O Bessie Bell and Mary Gray, ... 96
Oh! dinna ask me gin I lo'e thee, (note,) . 11
[O] hearken, and I will tell you how, . . 98
Oh, I ha'e been on the fiow'ry banks o' Clyde, 106
O I ha'e seen great anes, and sat in great ha's, 90
Adieu, Dundee ! from Mary parted.
And are ye sure the news is true ? {App. 1S9,)
And O, for ane-and-twenty. Tarn ! {App. 167,)
And ye shall walk in silk attire, {App. 158,) .
Argyle is my name, and you may think it strange,
At Willie's wedding on the green, {App. 163,)
Baloo, my boy, lie still and sleep,
Behold, my love, how green the groves,
Bonnie lassie, will ye go ?
Come o'er the stream, Charlie,
Donald Caird's come again !
Farewell to Lochaber, farewell to my Jean,
First when Maggie was my care.
Flow gently, sweet Afton,
« Gin a body meet a body,
Gin livin' worth could win my heart, .
He's o'er the hills that I lo'e weel.
How lang and dreary is the nicht.
Husband, husband, cease your strife, {App.)
I dream 'd I lay where flow'rs were springing,
If those who live in shepherds' bowers, {note,)
I ha'e layen three herring a' sa't, {App.)
I met four chaps yon birks amang, {App. 159,)
I'm a' doun, doun, doun,
I'm o'er young to marry yet,
I sigh, and lament me in vain, .
It fell about the Mart'mas time,
It fell on a day, .....
It was in and about the Mart'mas time, {App. 157,)
Keen blaws the wind o'er Donoeiit-head,
Let us haste to Kelvin grove, bonnie lassie, O,
Loudon's bonnie woods and braes.
My heart is sair, I daurna tell, .
My Peggy's face, my Peggy's form, {App. 164,)
My sheep I neglected, I broke my sheep-hook,
PAOC
116 22 8 28 34
0 lay thy loof in mine, lass, O, lassie, art thou sleepin' yet ? O, Mary, at thy window be, . O my love is like a red red rose, {App. 158,) . Oh ! thou art all so tender, O, wae's my heart ! O, wae's my heart ! {App. 163,) 104
O wha's at the window, wha, wha 1 . . 60 Owhereha'eye been, Lord Ronald, my son! {App.lGQ,) 74
O Willie brew'd a peck o' maut, . . 80
Rising o'er the heading billow, . . 142
Roy's wife of Aldivalloeh, ... 78
Saw ye my wee thing? Saw ye mine ain thing ? 94
She's fair and fause that causes my smart, . 12
Should auld acquaintance be forgot, . . 36
Strike up the bagpipe's boldest blast, . . 56
Sweet fa's the eve on Craigie burn, . . 20
Sweet Sir, for your courtesie, (.<ljBp. 166,) . 1,S2
The gloomy night is gath'ring fast, . . 44
The last gleam o' sunset in ocean was sinkin', 124
The lass of Patie's mill, {App. 159,) . . 40
The last, the dreaded hour is come, . . 46
The moon had climbed the highest hill, . S4
The smiling Spring comes in rejoicing, (Ajip. 160,) 84 The sun has gaen down o'er the lofty Ben-loniond, 88
There's eauld kail in Aberdeen, {note,) . 153
Tho' Boreas bauld, that carle auld, {note,) . Ill
Though a' the leaves o' my bonnie bower, . 1
Thy cheek is o' the rose's hue, . . . 138
'Twas on a simmer's afternoon, {App. 167,) . I.'i4
Were I but able to rehearse, . . . 126
Wha wadna be in love wi' bonnie Maggie Lauder ? 110
What ails this heart o' mine? (.(4 /)/>. 139,) . 42
Wha wadna fight for Charlie ? {App. 1S7,) . 14 When first I came to be a man of twenty years,
or so, {App. 158,) .... 24
Why should thy cheek be pale ! . . 100
Why weep ye by the tide, ladye ? . . 68
Will ye gang to the Hielands, Le3zic Lindsay ? B2
Wilt thou go, my bonnie lassie ? . . 102
Ye banks, and braes, and streams around, . 38
Ye banks and braes o' bonnie Doon, {App. ITi?,) 4
Young Peggy bloom.'! n\n' I. onniest lass, . 2(j
INDEX
TO THE AIES CONTAINED IN THE SECOND VOLUME AND ALSO TO THOSE
MENTIONED IN THE NOTES.
Adieu, Dundee ! Afton water,
Air by Handel, in his Alcina, {note,) Alace tliis niglit yat we suld sinder, [note and App. An tliou wert mine ain tiling, [notes,) Ancient French Air, [note,) And ye shall walk in silk attire, (App. 158,) Armstrong's farewell, [note,) Auld lang syne, . Auld Rob Morris, [note,) Bannocks o' barley-meal, Barbara Allan, (App. 167,) Bessie Bell and Mary Gray, ! Bonnie Dundee,
V Ca' the ewes to the knowes, (App.)
V Cauld kail in Aberdeen, ,Comin' thro' the rye, '. Craigie-burn-wood,
Dainty Davie, (note,)
Donald Caird's come again !
Doun the burn, Davie, .
Duncan Davidson, (note,)
For the sake o' somebody, ■ Get up and bar the door,
Gilderoy,
He's o'er the hills that I lo'e weel,
Hughie Graham, ., I fee'd a lad at Michaelmas, (rioie,)
I ha'e laid a herrin' in saut, (App. 1 64, ;- I'll never leave thee,
I'm a' doun for lack o' Johnnie, ■ , I'm o'er young to marry yet, , Jenny's bawbee, (App. 159,) vJenny dang the weaver, (App. 163,) '/ Jessie, the flower o' Dunblane, v,Jock o' Hazeldean,
John of Badenyon, (App. 158,) ', Katherine Ogie, . [ Kelvin grove,
■ Kind Robin lo'es me, (note,) King James' March to /rland, (notes,) Kinloch of Kinloch, Lady Anne Bothwell's Lament,
t Leezie Lindsay, .
Lilliburlero, (note,)
Limerick's Lamentation, (tiote,)
Lochaber no more, (notes, 75, 77,)
Loeh-Eroch side,
Long er onie old man, (note and App.' '■ Lord Ronald, (App. 160,) \Low down in the broom, (note,) 'Maggie Lauder, .
Maclean's Welcome,
■ Major Graham, (note,) . Marquis of Hastings' Strathspey, Marry Ketty, (note,) Mary of Castlecary, (note,) Mary's dream, . Mary's dream, (old set,) Mary Morison, Muirland Willie,
PAGE ' PAGB
£)2 My ain fireside, . . . « . 90
SO My apron dearie, . . . . 154
109 My dearie, an' thou dee, (?(o^e,) . . 43
105,163 Myjo Janet, (/Ipp. 166.) . . . I3'2
27, 45 My love has forsaken me, ... 34
S3 ' My Nannie's awa', .... 66
18 My Nannie, 0, (App.) .... 168
,91 My only jo and dearie, O, . . . 138
36 ; My Peggy's face, (App. 164,) . . . 122
45 ! O lay thy loof in mine, lass, . . . 116 114 O let me in this ae night, ... 52
16 I - C) my love is like a red red rose, (App. 15B
96 ! O wae's my heart that we should sunder ! (.,471;).
94 .0 wha's at the window, wha, wha ?
171 I O Willie brew'd a peek 0' maut,
152 Pi^ggy, I must love thee,
10 Queen Mary's Lament,
20 j Robin and Janet, (Ajyp.)
185 { ; Roy's wife,
108 ! Russian air, (note,)
146 ;. Russian boat-song, (App.)
103 ) She's fair and fause,
52 ( Sour plums in Galashiels,
62 j The auld wife ayont the fire,
46 ', The birks of Aberfeldie,
70 \ The black eagle, {note,) .
44 • The blue bells of Scotland,
>.
37 i The boatman, (note,) 120 j The bony (bonnie) brow, (Kote,) 100 j The bonnie house o' Airly, 136 i The braes aboon Bonaw, 148 \ The bush aboori Traquair, (7iote,)
48 i '. The Caledonian Hunt's Delight, (note
118 j The cook laird, (note,) .
88 } The Cordwainer's March, (note,) 68 The Dream,
24 5 ' The ewie \vi' the crookit horn, .
38 5 The keiking glasse, (moie an(i .4 pjD.) 72 i The lads of Leith, (liofe,) 27 ; Thelass of Cessnock-banks, (.i4;)jt).)
75, 77 \ - The lass of Patie's mill, (App. 159,)
124 i The last time I cam' o'er the muir, (note,)
30 j The lowlands of Holland, (note,)
82 I The maid of Islay,
27 \ The Miller, (mofe,)
75 > The Miller's daughter, {note,) .
76 \ The moudiewart, (App. 167,) 1,34 > The old man, (7iote a«rf ^/ip.) .
133, 166 ^ ,The ruffian's rant, (note,)
74 ■; The smiling Spring, (Ajyp. 160,)
29 ] The waefu' heart,
110 ! .The weary pund o' tow, (.4j[)p.)
112 ? There'll never be peace till Jamie come hame, («oie,) 67 29 I ■ There's nae luck about the house, (App. 159,) 64
86 > To dance about the bailzeisdubb, (Mofeaniyl pp.) 105, 163 15 ! -^ Wha wadna fight for Charlie ? (App. 157,) . 14
95 ', , What ails this heart o' mine? (^/ip. 1,59.) . 42
54 > \ Whistle o'er the lave o't, ... 32
140 I William's ghost, (Kofe,) .... 51
8 < Willie and Annet, (note,) ... 69
98 , Ye banks and braes o' bonnie Doon, (App. K57,) 4
163,) 104
60
80
26
58
167
78
117
166
12
1
• 56
128
51
106
45
69
130
102
45
S
61
117
ISO
126
133, 166
13
169
40
51
51
142
9
11
144
166
79
84
6
172
13:
SCOTTISH SONGS.
THE FADED BOWER.
AIR, "SOL'R PLUJIS IN GALASHIELS."
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My heart still is true, and it sliares my sigh,
When the breeze has ceased frae blawing, And it drinks oft a drop frae this lanely eye,
When nae dews frae heaven are fa'ing. But his heart may be here, though his step be far
On the wilds o' the glens and moorlands, While he thinks on the times when he wove for my hair,
0' the boughs and the blossoms the garlands : And the bonnie, bonnie blue forget-me-not,
Shall spread not its leaves to lose them, Till twined wi' my locks, on this blessed spot.
It fade on his beating bosom.
" The jaded eowek." Air, " Sour plums in Galashiels." The old title, says Burns, was probably the beginning of a song to this air, which is now lost. The tune of Galashiels was composed about the beginning of last century, 1700, by the Laird of Galashiels' piper: and INIr. Cromek adds, that the piper of Galashiels was the subject of an unpublished mock-heroic poem by Hamilton of Bangour. — Rdiques. In the Additional Illustrations to the Museum, Mr. Laing of the Signet Library gives a portion of a Journal kept by Alexander Campbell, the editor of Albyn's Anthology, when on a Border tour in 181G, for the purpose of collecting local tunes. This contains notices of the best Border pipers of the eighteenili century, taken down from the conversation of Mr. Thomas Scott, (the uncle of Sir Walter Scott.) who was himself a skilful performer on the Lowland or bellows pipe. One of these was Donald Maclean of Galashiels, " a capital piper, and the only one who could play on the pipe the old popular tune of ' Sour plums of Galashiels,' it requiring a peculiar art of pinching the back-note of the chanter with the thumb, to produce the higher notes of the melody in question." Sir Walter Scott records, that his uncle, Thomas Scott, died in 1823, aged 90. He, "being a great musician on the Scotch pipes, had, when on his death-bed, a favourite tune played over to him by his son James, that he might be sui-e he left him in full possession of it. After hearing it, he hummed it over himself, and corrected it in several of the notes. The air was that called, Suur plums in Galashiels." — Lockhart's Life of Scott, vol. i. This old tune first appears in the Orpheus Caledouius, 1725.
The old words, beginning, " Ah, the poor shepherd's mournful fate," were written by Hamilton of Bangour, and published by Ramsay in his Tea-Table Miscellany in 1725. The verses which we have adopted for this work, were written by the Rev. Henry Scott Riddell, and are here published by his espress permission.
SCOTTISH SONGS.
YE BANKS AND BRAES 0' BONNIE BOON.
AKKjUiGED BY J. T. SURENNE.
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Oft ha'e I roved by bonnie Boon,
To see the rose and woodbine twine ; And ilka bird sang o' its love,
And fondly sae did I o' mine. Wi' liglitsome heart I pu'd a rose,
Fu' sweet upon its thorny tree ; But my fause lover stole my rose,
And ah ! he left the thorn wi' me.
" Ye banks and braes o' bonnie boon." In a letter to Mr. Thomson, November, 1 79-1, Burns says, " There is an air, ' The Caledonian Hunt's Delight,' to which I wrote a song that you will find in Johnson — 'Ye banks and braes o' bonnie Doon ;' this air, I think, might find a place among your hundred, as Lear says of his knights. Do you know the histoi'y of the air ? It is curious enough. A good many years ago, Mr. James ]\Iiller, writer in your good town, a gentleman whom possibly you know, was in company with our friend Clarke ; and talking of Scottish music. Miller expressed an ardent ambition to be able to compose a Scots air. Mr. Clarke, partly by way of joke, told him to keep to the black keys of the harpsichord, and preserve some kind of rhythm, and he would infallibly compose a Scots air. Certain it is, that, in a few days, Mr. Miller produced the rudiments of an air, which Mr. Clarke, with some touches and corrections, fashioned into the tune in question. Ritson, you know, has the same story of the hlack kei/s ; but this account which I have just given you, Mr. Clarke informed me of several years ago. Now, to show you how ditficult it is to trace the origin of our airs, I have heard it repeat- edly asserted that this was an Irish air ; nay, I met with an Irish gentleman who affirmed he had heard it in Ireland among the old women ; while, on the other hand, a Countess informed me, that the first person who intro- duced the air into this country was a baronet's lady of her acquaintance, who took down the notes from an itinerant piper in the Isle of Man. How difficult then to ascertain the truth respecting our poesy and music ! I, myself, have lately seen a couple of ballads sung through the streets of Dumfi-ies, with my name at the head of them as the author, though it was the first time I had ever seen them."
Another and an earlier version of this song was found by Cromek among Burns' papers, and was admitted into the " Reliques." It is even more simple and touching than the altered version ; and it is said that whenever the genius of Burns was a topic of conversation, Cromek used to descant on the exquisite simplicity and force of his sentiments and language, and generally instanced the last two verses of the first copy of " The banks o' Doon," as a fine specimen of his natural powers. See Cunningham's Burns, vol. iv. p. 245.
SCOTTISH SONGS.
THE WAEFU' HEART.
A-RRANGED BY T. U. MUDIE.
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Would grant the boon I crave, And take tliis life, now naething worth.
Sin' Jamie's in his grave ! And see! his gentle spirit comes,
To show me on my way ; Surprised, nae doubt, I still am here,
Sair wondering at my stay.
I come, I come, my Jamie dear,
And, oh, wi' what gude will I follow, wheresoe'er ye lead !
Ye canna lead to ill !-^ She said, and soon a deadly pale
Her faded cheek possess'd ; Her waefu' heart forgot to beat ;
Her sorrows sunk to rest.
" TuE waefu' heart." Mr. Stenhouse's Note on this air is as follows : — "Both the words and music of this elegant and pathetic song were taken from a single sheet, printed at London about the year 1788, and sold by Joseph Dale, No. 19, Cornhill, ' sunj by Master Knyvett.' From these circumstances, I am led to conclude that it is a modern Anglo-Scottish production, especially as it does not appear in any of the old collections of our songs. If it be an imitation of the Scottish style, however, it is a very successfal one." See Museum Illustra- tions, vol. iii. p. 228. Patrick Maxwell, Esq., the editor of the Poetical Works of Miss Susanna Blamire, tlie " Muse of Cumberland," (Edinburgh, 1842,) has no doubt that she was the authoress of " The waefu' heart." He says, "Having long had a settled conviction in my mind that the writer of 'The Siller Crown' was also the ■writer of ' The waefu' heart;' and having ascertained beyond a doubt that the first-mentioned song was the pro- duction of Miss Blamire, I thought it would be useful to print the songs together, the better to examine their styles, and to see how closely they resembled each other in sentiment and expression. I think it cannot fail to strike every one, that the second song is a continuation of the first; had the 'Jamie' of the latter but been the 'Donald' of the former, the likeness would have been perfect," i.c. See "Memoir of Miss Blamire," pp. xl. xli et seij.
SCOTTISH SONGS.
MARY MORISOK
MODERATO E CON
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Testreen, when to the stented' string
The dance gaed through the lichtit ha', To thee my fancy took its wing —
I sat, but neither heard nor saw. Though this was fair, and that was braw,
And yon the toast 0' a' the town, I sigh'd, and said amang them a',
Te are na Mary Morison.
0, Slary, canst thou wreck his peace,
Wla for thy sake wad gladly dee? Or canst thou break that heart of his,
Whase only faut is loving thee? If love for love thou wilt na gi'e,
At least be pity to me shown, A thocht ungentle canna be
The thocht of Mary Morison.
Appointed; agreed upon. 2 Bust; metaphoricaUy — labour, hardship.
3 Tightened.— In some editions " trembling " is substituted for " stented."
" Maet Morison." In Johnson's Museum the air is called " The Miller ; " and is there given with verses written by Sir John Clerk of Pennycuik, Bart., one of the Barons of the Coui-t of Exchequer in Scotland, and a man of remarkable learning and accomplishments in his day. One of his younger sons was John Clerk of Eldin, Esq., distinguished for his woi-k on " Naval Tactics," and the father of the late Lord Eldin, an eminent Scottish lawyer. See Museum Illustrations, vol. ii. pp. 120-203. The humorous verses by Sir John Clerk do not appear to us to be very suitable to the air, which is in a minor key, and of a tender and rather pathetic character. We have there- fore substituted for them the words by Burns, which begin, '■ 0, Mary, at thy window be," and wliich were, as he says, "one of his juvenile works." He had written them to the air of "Bide ye yet;" and we think his having done so exhibits one of the very rare instances in which Burns did not perceive that the aii- was not well suited to the words that he wrote for it. The air of " The Miller," on the contrary, is well adapted to the song of " Mary Morison."
The author of the air is not known. Its date seems to belong to a period not earlier than the commencement of the last century. Captain Charles Gray, R.M., in his " Cursory Remarks on Scottish Song," introduces " Mary Morison" as follows : — "The late William Hazlitt, who wrote many works on the helUs lettres, pays a high compli- ment to the genius of Burns, in his ' Lectures on the British Poets.' The passage has often been quoted, but as the memories of all the admirers of our Bard may not be so good as our own, we may be pardoned if we quote it again. ' Of all the productions of Biu:ns, the pathetic and serious love-songs which he has left behind him, in the manner of the old ballads, are perhaps those which take the deepest and most lasting hold of the mind. Such as the lines on ' Mary Morison,' those entitled, ' Jessie,' and the song beginning, ' Oh, my love is like a red, red rose.' ' Now, it so happens that ' My love, &c.,' is an old ballad, which proves the discernment of Hazlitt as a critic."
10
SCOTTISH SONGS.
COMIN' THRO' THE RYE.
'=72
MODERATO.
AEBANGED BY T M. Hl'DIE.
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Gin a bo - dy kiss* a bo - dy, Need
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has her lad - die, Nane, they say, ha'e I ! Yet a' the lads they smile at me. When
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* Often sung "greet."
^-J-
COM[K THRO THE RYE.
11
a t'miM
Gin a body meet a body
Comin' frae the well, Gin a body kiss a body,
Need a body tell ? Uka lassie has her laddie.
Ne'er a ane ha'e I ; But a' the lads they smile on mo
When comin' thro' the rye.
Gin a body meet a body
Comin' frae the town, Gin a body greet a body.
Need a body gloom. Uka lassie has her laddie,
Nane they say ha'e I ; But a' the lads they lo'e me weel,
And what the waur am I ?
Miss Stephens was accustomed to conclude the song with the following lines sung to the first part of the air :-
Amang the train there is a swain
I dearly lo'e mysel' ; But whaur his hame, or what his name,
I dinna care to tell.
* Each ; every.
" Comin' thro' the rye." There are three versions of this air inserted in Johnson's Museum, the first of which was probably communicated by Burns. As the second is the most popular, as well as the most characteristic, we have adopted it in this work. Mr. Stenhouse's Notes upon them are as follows : — " 1st Set. This song was written by Burns. The air is taken from the third and fourth strains of the strathspey called ' The Miller's Daughter.' See Gow's First Collection." — " 2d Set. The words and music of this song, beginning, ' Gin a body meet a bodj',' are parodied from the first set, which was published as a single sheet song before it was copied into the Museum. Mr. John Watlen, musician and music-seller, formerly in Edinburgh, now in London, afterwards altered the first strain of the former tune a little, and published it with the new words. His edition had a considerable run." The third version is adapted to the words, " I've been courtmg at a lass, these twenty days and mair." It bears a Btriking resemblance to the others ; but is styled by Mr. Stenhouse, " Ah, ha ! Johnnie, lad, you're nae sae kind's ye sud ha' been." See Museum Illustrations, vol. v. p. 377.
The following stanzas are very frequently sung to this air ; they were written by Mr. Dunlop, Collector of Customs, PortGlasgow : —
Oh ! dinna ask me gin I lo'e thee ;
Troth, I daurna tell : Dinna ask me gin I lo'e ye ;
Ask it o' yoursel'. Oh ! dinna look sae sair at me.
For weel ye ken me true ; 0, gin ye look sae sair at me,
I daurna look at you.
When ye gang to yon braw, braw town,
And bonnier lasses see, 0, dinna, Jamie, look at them.
Lest you should mind na me. For I could never bide the lass
That ye'd lo'e mair than me ; And 0, I'm sure, my heart would break,
Gin ye'd prove false to me.
12
SCOTTISH SONGS.
SHE'S FAIR AND FAUSE.
ARKASGHD BY J. T. SURENNE.
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= 116
Larghetto doioeoso.
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She's fair and fause that caus - es my smart, I lo'ed her meiUle and
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lang; She's bro - ken her vow, she's bro - ken my heart, And I may e'en
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SHE S FAIR AND FAUSE.
13
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wo - man is but warld'a gear,
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ha'a tint* my dear - eat dear ; But
Sas
Whae'er ye be that woman love,
To this be never blind, Nae ferlie' 'tis tbo' fickle she prove,
A woman has't by kind.
0 woman lovely ! woman fair ! An angel form's fa'n to thy share, 'Twad been o'er meikle to [ha'e] gi'en thee i I mean an angel mind.
' Fool.
2 Plenty.
s Riches ; goods.
I Lost.
^ Wonder.
" She's fair and fause." Mr. Stenhouse informs us, that " Burns picked up this charming old melody in the country, and wrote the verses to which it is so happily adapted in the JIuseum." See Museum Illustrations, vol. iv. p. 359. We have no doubt that this was the case, for Burns, as we have already had occasion to remark, was very successful in recovering old melodies that were but little known, and at once giving them a more extended circulation, by writing songs for them. In this instance, however, Oswald had already rescued the air from obli- vion, by printing it in his Caledonian Pocket Companion, book iv., where it appears under the title of " The lada of Leith." In the first stanza of the song, the repetition of the word "gear" in rhyme, is rather a blemish.
In his "Cursory Remarks on Scottish Song," No. 3, Captain C. Gray, R.M., quotes Burns regarding "A Collection of Songs;" — "That volume was my tade mecum. I pored over them dui-ing my work, or walking to my labour, song by song, verse by verse — carefully noticing the true tender or sublime, fi'om afifectation or fustian ; and I am convinced, that I owe to this practice most of my critic-craft, such as it is." Captain Gray thinks that this Collection of Songs, so much studied by Burns, was most probably the first or second edition of the, " Scots Nightingale;" the second edition, "with one hundred modern songs," having been printed in 1779. Captain Gray gives reasonsfor his opinion by quotations; and, among others, quotes from the "Scots Nightingale," "The Address;" the last four lines of which seem to have suggested to Burns a striking idea in his song, " She's fair and fause."
The four last lines of the " Address " are : —
" To bless is Heaven's peculiar grace ; Let me a blessing find : And since you wear an angel's face, Oh show an angel's mind ! " Burns, doubtless, borrowed the idea ; but he improved it, as his verses show. Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, and other great poets, were great borrowers— improving upon the ideas they adopted from others. The first poet who borrowed nothing from any one is yet unknown. In No. 4 of his Remarks, Captain Gray mentions another book, — "The Lark, being a Collection of the most celebrated and newest Songs, Scots and English, 1765,"— which also contains " The Address " above quoted ; and thence infers, that " The Lark " may, still more probably, have been the Collection referred to by Burns.
14
SCOTTISH SONGS.
WHA WADNA FIGHT FOR CHARLIES
ARRANGED BY II. E. DIEDM.
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Wha wad - na fight tor Cliarlie? Wha wad - na draw the sword ? Wha wad - i;a up andral-ly
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At the roy - al Prince's word ? Think on Sco - tia's an - cient he - roes, Think on fo - reign
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foes re- pell d, Thiuk on glo - riuus Bruce and Wallace,
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Who the proud u - surpers queli'd.
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WHA WADNA FIGHT FOK CHAELIE?
15
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Wha wad - na figlit for CSiar - lie ? Wha wad - na draw the sword ? Wha wad - na up and ral - \y
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Kouse, rouse, ye kilted wan-iors !
Ronse, ye heroes of the north ! Rouse, and join your chieftains' banners—
'Tis your Prince that leads you forth ! Shall we basely crouch to tyrants ?
Shall we own a foreign sway? Shall a royal Stuart be banish'd,
While a stranger rules the day ? Wha wadna fight, &c.
See the northern clans advancing !
See Glengarry and Lochiel ! See the brandish'd broadswords glancing !
Highland hearts are true as steel ! Now om- Prince has raised his banner,
Now triumphant is om- cause, Now the Scottish lion rallies —
Let us strike for Prince and laws. Wha wadna fight, &c.
" WuA WADNA riGUT FOR CnARLiE?" James Hogg gives this song and air in the second series of his "Jacobite Relics of Scotland," pp. 100, 101; Edinburgh, William Blackwood; London, Cadell and Davies. 1821. Hogg's Note upon it, ibid, p. 305, is as follows: — "Song LIV. '^Yha, wadna tight for Charlie?' is likewise a Buchan song, sent me by Mr. John Wallace. The air has the same name ; but in the south is called, ' Will ye go and marry, KatieV" The air is evidently a strathspey. It is printed in Johnson's Museum, vol. v., with the words, "Will ye go and marry, Katie?" wliich appear to have been recovered and sent to the publisher of that work by Burns. In Gow's Second Collection of Strathspeys and Reels, it is called, " Marry Ketty."
Hogg does not say whether this lyric was sent to him as a real Jacobite war-song, written to rouse the clans to foUow their Prince into the field, or whether it is merely a modern imitation. Internal evidence would lead us to Oie belief that its composition dates much nearer to 1845 than to 1745. To be an old song, it is too correct in rhymes, too refined in language, and it wants that characteristic of the Jacobite muse — unsparing abuse of tJie House of Hanover.
16
SCOTTISH SONGS.
BARBARA ALLAN.
auban'ged by j. t. suuenke.
Andamte Paieiico.
fez
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!art' - mas time, When the green leaves were ;
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It was in and a - bout the Mart' - mas time, Wlien tlie green leaves were a - fall - in', That
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Sir John Grseme, in the west coun - try, Fell in love wi' Bar - b'ra Al - Ian.
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sent his man down thro' the town. To the place where she was dwall - in' : O, haste and come to my
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BARBARA ALLAK.
17
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mas - ter dear, Gin ye be Bar - b'ra A\ - Ian.
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0, hooly,' hooly, rase she up
To the place where he was lyin', And when she drew the curtain by —
Young man, I think ye're dyin'.
It's oh, I'm sick, I'm very very sick,
And it's a' for Barbara Allan. 0, the better for me ye'se never be.
Though your heart's blude were a^spillin'.
Oh, dinna ye mind, young man, she said. When the red wine ye were fillin'.
That ye made the healths gae round and round, And slichtit Barbara AUan ?
He turn'd his face unto the wa', i
And death was with him dealin' :
Adieu, adieu, my dear friends a', And be kind to Barbara Allan.
And slowly, slowly rase she up, And slowly, slowly left liim,
And sighin', said, she could not stay, Since death of life had reft him.
She hadna gane a nule but twa, When she heard the deid-bcll knellin',
And every jow^ that the deid-bell gi'ed. It cried, Woe to Barbara Allan.
Oh, mother, mother, mak' my bed. And mak' it saft and narrow.
Since my love died for me to-day, I'll die for him to-morrow.
> Slowly.
speal.
" Babbaka Allan." " This ballad is ancient. Bishop Percy had an old printed copy in his possession, which was entitled, 'Barbara Allan's Cruelty, or the Young Man's Tragedy,' reprinted in the thu-d volume of his Ancient Songs and Ballads, at Loudon in 1767. It is evidently an embellished edition of the old Scottish ballad in the Museum, which is taken verbatim from that preserved in Ramsay's Miscellany in 1724. The learned prelate's copy makes the heroine's residence at Scarlet Town, (the city of Carlisle, perhaps,) and calls the hero Jemmye Grove. In other respects the story is nearly the same in both ballads, and may possibly have had its origin from circumstances that really occurred. Be that as it may, it has been a favourite ballad at every country fire-side in Scotland, time out of memory. The strains of the ancient minstrel who composed this song may, indeed, appear harsh and unpolished when compared with modern refinements ; nevei-theless he has depicted the incidents of his story with such a bold, glowing, and masterly pencil as would do credit to any age. A learned correspondent informs me, that he remembers having heard the ballad frequently sung in Dumfries-shire, where it was said the catastrophe took place — that there were people of the name of Allan who resided in the town of Annan — and that, in some papers which he had seen, mention is made of a Barbara of that family ; but he is of opinion she may have been baptized from the ballad." See Museum Illustrations, vol. iii. pp. 213, 214. In the Add. lUust., p. 300* C. K. Sharpe, Esq., writes as follows, regarding the preceding Note : — " In this Note Mr. Stenhouse alludes to me. Unluckily I lost the paper I found at Hoddam Castle, in which Barbara Allan was mentioned. I remember that the peasantry of Annandale sang many more verses of this ballad than have appeared in print, but they were of no merit — containing numerous magnificent offers from the lover to his mistress — and, among others, some ships in sight, which may strengthen the belief that this song was composed near the shores of the Solway. I need scarcely add, that the name of Grahame, which the luckless lover generally bears, is still quite common in and about Annan."
Allan Cunningham remarks of this ballad : — " Never was a tale of love-sorrow so simply and so soon told ; yet we learn aU that we wish to know, and any further incidents would only cumber the narrative, and impair the effect. I have often admired the ease and simplicity of the first verse, and the di-amatic beauty of the second."
The melody bears marks of antiquity, from the nature of the tonality employed. Its author is unknown. We find in Mr. W. Chappell's "National English Airs," a melody of the same name, wliich is, however, quite different from the Scottish melody, besides being in a major key, and in thi-ee crotchet time.
No. XII. B
18
SCOTTISH SONGS.
AND YE SHALL WALK IN SILK ATTIRE.
AERAMGED ET T. M. MUDID.
,• = 80
Andante espressivo.
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silk at - tire. And ail - ler ha'e to spare, Gin ye'U con - sent to
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be his bride, Nor think o' Don - aid mair. Oh ! wha wad buy a
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AND YE SHALL WALK IN SILK ATTIRE.
19
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silk - en gown
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what's to me a sil - ler crown, Gin frae my love I
part ?
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The mind whase every wish is pure,
Far dearer is to me ; And ere I'm forced to break my faith,
I'll lay me down and dee ; For I ha'e pledged my virgin troth.
Brave Donald's fate to share, And he has gi'en to me his heart,
Wi' a' its virtues rare.
His gentle manners wan my heart,
He gratefu' took the gift ; Could I but think to see it back.
It wad be waur than theft. For langest life can ne'er repay
The love he bears to me ; And ere I'm forced to break my troth,
I'll lay me down and dee.
" And te shall walk in silk attire." This song, also known under the title of " The Siller Crown," was written by Miss Susanna Blamire, of Cumberland. See Note upon " The waefu' heart," p. 7 of this volume. Mr. Stenhouse says : — " This fine song was originally published by Napier as a single sheet song, from which it was copied into the Museum ; but neither the author nor the composer are yet known. An excellent parody of the older verses, by a modern hand, and set to a beautiful tune, composed by Miss Grace Corbet, is inserted in the sixth volume of the Museum, see Notes on song No. 58.3, entitled ' 0 Mary, ye'se be clad in silk.' Urbani reprinted this latter song in his Collection, under the title of 'I'll lay me down and die.' " See Museum, Illustra-. tions, vol. iii. p. 225.
20
SCOTTISH SONGS.
f = 104 Lento
CON ESPRESSIONE.
CRAIGIE -BURN -WOOD.
AREANGED BY J. T. SUKENNE.
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fa's the
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eve on Craig - ie bum, And blythe a - wakes the
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mor - row; But
a' the pride o' spring's re - turn Can vield me nocht but
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the flowers and spread - ing trees, I
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CRAIGIE-BURK-WOOD.
21
ii
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hear the wild birds sing - ing; But
what
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wea - ry wight can please, And
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Fain, fain would I my griefs impart.
Yet dare na for your anger ; But secret lore will break my heart,
If I conceal it langer.
If thou refuse to pity me,
If thou slialt love anither, When yon green leaves fade frae the tree,
Around my grave they'll wither.
" Craioie-buen-wood." Burns wrote his first version of this song to aid the eloquence of a Sir. Gillespie, who was paying his addresses to Jean Lorimer, then residing at Craigie-burn-wood, near Moffat. Neither the poet'a verse nor the lover's language could prevail: the lady married an officer of the name of Whelpdale — Uved with liim a few months — quitted him in consequence of great provocation — and afterwards took up her residence in Dumfries. The song was re-written in 179-, for Mr. George Thomson's Collection, and the chorus, part of an old ballad, was discarded. Mr. Stenhouse tells us, — " The air called ' Craigie-burn-wood,' taken down fi'om a coimtry girl's singing, was considered by the late Mr. Stephen Clarke, as one of our finest Scottish tunea. At the foot of the manuscript of the music of this song (written for Johnson's Museum) is the following note, in the hand-writing of Mr. Clarke ; — There is no need to mention the chorus. The man that icou/d attempt to sing a chorus to this beauti- ful air, should have his throat cut to prevent him from doing it again! !" " It is remarkable of this air," says Burns, "that it (its name) is the confine of that country where the greatest part of our lowland music, (so far as from the title, words, &c., we can localize it,) has been composed. From Craigie-burn, near Moffat, until one reaches the West Highlands, we have scarcely one slow air of any antiquity." — lieliques.
Dr. Currie informs us, that " Craigie-burn-wood is situated on the banks of the river Moffat, and about three miles distant from the village of that name, celebrated for its medicinal waters. The woods of Craigie-bui'n and of Dumcrieff were at one time favourite haunts of Burns. It was there he met the ' Lassie wi' the lint-wliite locks,' and that he conceived some of his beautiful lyrics.' " See Museum Illustrations, vol. iv. pp. 295, 296.
22
SCOTTISH SOKGS.
0 LET ME IN THIS AE NIGHT.
AERA>JGED BY T. M. MUDIK.
' = 80
Am) ANTE.
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0, las - sie, art thou sleep - in' yet ? Or art thou wauk - in',
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I would wit ? For love has bound me hand and foot, And I would fain be
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in, jo. 0, let me in this ae night. This ae night, this
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0 LET ME IN THIS AE NIGHT.
23
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ae niglit; For pi - ty's sake, this
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ae night, O
rise and let me
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Thou hear'st the winter wind and weet ; Nae star blinks through the driving sleet Tak' pity on my wearie feet, And shield me frae the rain, jo. 0, let me in, &c.
The bitter blast that round me blaws, Unheeded howls, imheeded fa's ; The cauldness o' thy heart's the cause 0' a' my grief and pain, jo. 0, let me in, &c.
IIEK ASSWEK.
0 tell na me of wind and rain. Upbraid na me wi' cauld disdain ! Gae back the gate ye cam' again ; I winna let you in, jo.
I tell you now, this ae night,
This ae, ae, ae night ; And, ance for a', this ae night, I winna let you in, jo.
The snellest blast, at mirkest hours, That round the pathless wand'rer pours. Is nought to what poor she endures. That's trusted feithless man, jo. I tell you now, &c. * The.first verse of the answer may be substituted for
The sweetest flower that deck'd the mead, Now trodden like the vilest weed ; Let simple maid the lesson read. The weird may be her ain, jo. I tell you now, &c.
The bird that charm'd his summer day. Is now the cruel fowler's prey ; Let witless, trusting woman say. How aft her fate's the same, j o. I tell you now this ae night,
This ae, ae, ae night. And, ance for a', this ae night, I winna let you in, jo. the last of the song: or a verse of each may be sung alternately.
" 0, LET ME IN THIS AE NIGHT." " This tune is very old. There is a copy of it in square-shaped notes in a manuscript book for the Virginals, in the Editor's possession, under the title of, ' The newe gowne made.' The ballad beginning, '0, let me in this ae night,' was printed in Herd's Collection, in 1776; but it was retouched by Burns, to render it less objectionable, before Johnson would give it a place in the iMuseum." In 1795, Burns altered the old verses a second time, and wrote the lady's answer^both for Mr. George Thomson's work. " If the song, as it stands in Herd's Collection, has lost anything in point of wit and humour, it has at any rate gained much in respect of elegance and modesty by the judicious alterations of our bard." See Museum Hlustrations, vol. iv. pp. 302-4. The old air, as well as the old words, has been subjected to alteration. It was rather lively, and possessed somewhat of a humorous cast, and in consequence was not so well adapted to give effect to the imploring character of Burns' verses as the modern version. We have therefore given the latter in this work.
24
SCOTTISH SONGS.
JOHN OF BADENYON.
ARRANGED BY G. F. GRAHAM.
100
MODEEATO.
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twenty years, or so, I thought myself a handsome youth,and fain the world would know; In best at - tire I
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stept abroad, with spirits brisk and gay; And here, and there, and ev'rywhere,was like a morn in May.
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No care I had, no fear of want, but rambled up and down ; And for a beau I might have pass'd in
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JOHN OP BADENYON.
25
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country or in town ; I still was pleas'd where'er I went, and when I was a - lone, I tuned my pipe and
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pleas'd my - self with John of Ba - den - yon.*
Now in the days of youthful prime, a mistress I must find ;
For love, they say, gives one an air, and ev'n improves the mind :
On Phillis fair, above the rest, kind fortune fixed mine eyes ;
Her piercing beauty struck my heart, and she became my choice.
To Cupid, now, with hearty pray'r, I oifer'd many a vow,
And danced and sung, and sigh'd and swore, as other lovers do ;
But when at last I breathed my flame, I found her cold as stone —
X left the girl, and tuned my pipe to John of Badenyon.
When love had thus my heart beguiled with foolish hopes and vain,
To friendship's port I steer'd my course, and laugh 'd at lover's pain ;
A friend I got by lucky chance — 'twas something like divine ;
An honest friend's a precious gift, and such a gift was mine.
And now, whatever may betide, a happy man was I,
In any strait I knew to whom I freely might apply.
A strait soon came ; my friend I tried — he laugh'd, and spurn'd my moan ;
I hied me home, and tuned my pipe to John of Badenyon.
What next to do I mused a while, stUl hoping to succeed ;
I pitch'd on books for company, and gravely tried to read :
I bought and borrow'd every where, and studied night and day,
Nor miss'd what dean or doctor wrote, that happen'd in my way.
Philosophy I now esteem'd the ornament of youth.
And carefully, through many a page, I hunted after truth :
A thousand various schemes I tried, and yet was pleased with none ;
I threw them by, and tuned my pipe to John of Badenyon.
* Johnson and Stenhouse give " Badenyond ;" while others give " Badenyon." The latter rhymes better irith the final word of the seventh line of each stanza, unless the final d of " Badenyond" is silent.
" John of Badenyon." The words are by the Rev. John Skinner, the author of the song of " Tullochgorum " already given in this work, vol. i. pp. 52, 53. The tune is an old Highland strathspey. The foui-th and sixth stanzas of the song have been omitted here for want of space ; they will be found in the Appendix.
26
SCOTTISH SONGS.
YOUNG PEGGY BLOOMS OUR BONNIEST LASS.
AIK, " PEGGY, I MUST lOVE THEE."
ARKAHGED BY J. T. SCEENNE.
Andante Amoroso.
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Young Peg - gy blooms cup bon - niest lass, Her blush is like the
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morn - ing, The ro - sy dawn, the spring - ing grass, With ear - ly* gems
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dorn - ing : Her eyes oiit - shine the ra - diant beams That gild the pass - ing
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YOUNG PEGGY BLOOMS OUE BONNIEST LASS.
27
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show - er, And glit - ter o'er the crys - tal streams, And cheer each fresh' - ning
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Her lips, more than the cherries bright,
A richer dye has graced them ; They charm th' admiring gazer's sight,
And sweetly tempt to taste them ; Her smile is, like the evening, mild,
When feather'd tribes are courting. And little lambkins wanton wild,
In playful bands disporting.
Were Fortune lovely Peggy's foe, Such sweetness would relent her,
As blooming Spring unbends the brow Of surly, savage Winter.
Detraction's eye no aim can gain, Her winning powers to lessen ;
And spiteful Envy grins in vain. The poison'd tooth to fasten.
Ye Powers of Honour, Love, and Truth,
From every ill defend her ; Insph'e the highly-favour'd youth
The destinies intend her ; Still fan the sweet connubial flame,
Eesponsive in each bosom ; And bless the dear parental name
With many a filial blossom.
"Peggy, I must love tiiee." Part of Mi\ Stenhouse's Note upon this air and song is as follows: — "Mr. J. Stafford Smith, in his ' Musica Antiqua,' vol. iii. p. 183, gives this beautiful air as the composition of the celebrated Henry Purcell, because John Playford bad printed it as such in his ' Musick's Handmaid,' published at London in 1689. The old Irish air called ' Lilliburlero,' is likewise given by Smith as Purcell's composition. But neither the Scotch nor the Irish air were (was) composed by Pm-ceU, (although he might have put a bass to them for his old friend Playford,) nor have (has) either of them the smallest resemblance to any of the other compositions of this truly eminent master. The Scottish air appears in a very old manuscript music-book, now in the possession of the Editor, written in square or lozenge-shaped notes, imder the title of ' Peggie, I must love thee,' in all proba- bility long before Purcell was born. Of this ancient song nothing remains but the tune and the title, for the verses to which the air is adapted, both in the Orpheus Caledonius, and in the Scots Musical Museum, were the production of Allan Ramsay." " Musick's Handmaid," mentioned above, is a collection of " New Lessons and Instructions for the Vu'ginals or Harpsichord," and consists of two parts, the first of which was printed in 1678, the second in 1689. It is in the latter that this air occm-a. There, it has no name attached to it, but is merely called " A new Scotch tune;" at the end of it is inscribed, "Sir. H. Purcell," but whether as the composer or arranger is not stated. The air is certainly Scottish in character, and bears a very marked resemblance in several passages to "An thou wert mine ain thing," and " Kind Robin loes me." The most probable solution of the difficulty is, that the MS. old air mentioned by Mr. Stenhouse, contained the germ or rudiments of the flowing melody into which Purcell amplified it for Playford's Virginal Book. For an example of a similar transformation, see vol. i. p. 77.
The verses here given were written by Bui-ns ; they are now, for the first time, united to this air.
28
SCOTTISH SONGS.
0 MY LOVE IS LIKE A RED RED ROSE.
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MODEEATO.
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AKRANGED BY T. M. MUDIE.
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O my love is like a red red rose, That's new - ly sprung in June ; O my
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love is like a me-lo-die, That's sweetly plaj'd* in tune. As fair art thou, my bon-nielass, Sae
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deep in love am I ; And I will love thee still, my dear. Till a' the seas gang dry. Till
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0 MY LOVE IS LIKE A RED RED ROSE.
29
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a' the seas gang dry, my dear, Till a' the seas gang dry, And I will love thee still, my dear, Till
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Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear, And the rocks melt wi' the sun ;
[0] I will love thee still my dear, While the sands o' life shall run.
And fare thee weel, my only love, And fare thee wecl a while !
I
And I will come again, my love, Though it were ten thousand mile !
Though it were ten thousand mile, my love !
Though it were ten thousand mile ! And I will come again, my love, Though it were ten thousand mile !
" 0 MY LOVE IS LIKE A RED KED KOSE." In a former Note, vol. ii. p. 9, we have already alluded to this being an old song, which Burns revised and extended for Johnson's Museum. The subject must at one time have been a favourite with our minstrels, for no less than three versions of it are given in the second volume of Burns' works edited by Hogg and Motherwell. The first was furnished by Mr. Peter Buchan, who says, — " The song which supplied Burns with such exquisite ideas, was written by Lieutenant Hinches as a farewell to his sweetlieart." No farther information is given as to this gentleman ; not even when or where he lived. This is unfortunate, for authorities are desirable in old songs as well as in gi-aver matters. The next version is ft-om a common stall ballad, picked up by Mr. I\lotherwell, entitled, " The turtle-dove, or True love's farewell." The third is taken from a small Garland, without date, but supposed to be printed about 1770, entitled, "The Horn fair Garland, containing six excellent new songs." This tract is believed to have been in the possession of Bui'ns, as his name, in a boyish hand, is scrawled on the margin of the last page. The present song seems to owe some of its lines to Song VI., " The loyal lover's farewell to his sweetheart on going a long joiu-ney ; " and Mr. Motherwell observes, " this song shows how tenaciously his (Burns') memory retained every idea which a rude ditty suggested to his creative mind." We are in possession of further information on the subject, but this we shall reserve for the Appendix, merely remarking here, that the first six lines do not appear in any of these old versions.
In Johnson's Museum the song was set to two diiferent airs, one a strathspey, called by Gow, " Major Graham," and the other a fine old melody of one strain, called, " Queen Mary's Lament." Neither of these has retained possession of the song, which is now invariably sung to a modern version of "Low down in the broom," the air to ■ which it is adapted in this work. Sibbald, in his Chronicle of Scottish Poetry, vol. iii. p. 274, states it as his opinion, that to this tune was written, " My love murnis for me, for me," one of Wedderburne's " Psalms and Ballands of Godlie purposes." These spiritual songs were undoubtedly sung to the popular tunes of the day ; but every attempt to identify the latter with any air now known, must, with perhaps a few exceptions, rest purely on conjecture. Wedderburne's " Gude and Godlie Ballates," are supposed to be alluded to in a Canon of the Pro- vincial Council, 1549, which denounces severe punishments against those who kept in their possession " aliquos libros rythmorum seu cantilenarum vulgarium, scandalosa ecclesiasticorum, aut quamcunque haeresim in se con- tinentia." See Sibbald, vol. iii. p. 238.
30
SCOTTISH SONGS.
LADY ANNE BOTHWELL'S LAMENT.
ARKAHGED BY nUlAY DUST.
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Ba - loOj my boy, lie still and sleep, It grieves me sore to hear thee
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makes my heart full
Ba - loo, my boy, thy mo-ther's joy, Thy fa-ther
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LADY ANNE BOTHWELL S LAMENT.
31
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bred me great an - noy, Ba - loo, ba - loo, ba - loo, ba - led, Ba - loo, ba -
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O'er thee I keep my lonely watch, Intent thy lightest breath to catch ; Or, when thou wak'st, to see thee araile- And thus my sorrow to beguile. Baloo, my boy, thy mother's joy. Thy father bred me great annoy ; Baloo, my boy, lie still and sleep. It gi'ieves me sore to hear thee weep.
Twelve weary months have crept away Since he, upon thy natal day, Left thee and me, to seek afar A bloody fate in doubtful war. Baloo, my boy, lie still and sleep. It grieves me sore to hear thee weep ; If thou'lt be silent, I'll be glad. Thy moaning makes my heart full sad.
I dream'd a dream but yester-night : — ■ Thy father slain in foreign fight ; He, wounded, stood beside thy bed — ■ His blood ran down upon thy head ; He spoke no word, but look'd on me — Bent low, and gave a kiss to thee ! Baloo, baloo, my darliag boy, Thou'rt now alone thy mother's joy.
* Instead of the nursery burden of " lillilu," &c., the singer may repeat the first two lines of the stanza.
"Lady Ahne Bothwell's Lament." "A fragment of this ancient and beautiful ballad," Bishop Percy informs us, " is inserted in his Manuscript Poems, written at least as early, if not before, the beginning of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, in 1558. It consists of seven stanzas of eight lines each. A more perfect version of the ballad, but evidently modernized, appears in Watson's iirst (third) Collection, printed at Edinburgh in 1711. This ballad with the music, was afterwards published by Thomson in his Orpheus Caledonius in 1 725, from whence it was copied into Johnson's Museum." See Museum Illustrations, vol. ii. pp. 124, 125. Mr. C. K. Sharpe, (Additional Illustrations, vol. ii. pp. 203-5,) states, that the personages of the ballad were Lady Anne Bothwell, daughter of the Bishop of Orkney, and her cousin. Colonel Alexander Erskine, son of the Earl of Mar. As he was killed in 1640, Bishop Percy must have made a mistake in his estimate of the date of his manuscript. The old ballad, though poetically meritorious, is so coarse in most of its stanzas as to be repugnant to modern feelings of propriety. We have, therefore, adopted only the first stanza of it, the additional stanzas here given having been written by a friend of the Publishers.
32
SCOTTISH SONGS.
WHISTLE O'ER THE LAVE O'T.
f = 72
MODERATO SOSTESUTO.
ARRANGED BY J. T. StIRENNE.
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First when Mag-gie was my care, Heaven I thought was
in her air ;
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Now we're married, speir' nae mair, But whistle o'er the lave^ o't. Mec was meel; and
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Meg wa3 mild, Sweet and harm - less as a child; Wis - er men than me's heguiled; Sae
WHISTLE o'eB the LAVE o'T.
33
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whistle o'er the lave o't.
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How we live, my Meg and me, How we love, and how we gree,' I care-nfi-by* how few may see;
Ssie, whistle o'er the lave o't. Wha I wish were maggots' meat, Dish'd up in her winding sheet, I could write — but Meg maun see't ;
Sae, whistle o'er the lave o't.
r- ff
^ Rest : romamder.
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** A Scottish idiom meaning "I am totally indiffferent."
" Whistle o'er the lave o't." " This fine air was formerly adapted to some witty, but indelicate verses, a fragment of which is preserved in Herd's Collection. The humorous song in the Museum, beginning, ' First when Maggie was my care,' was written by Burns in 1789, as a substitute for the old verses. The air was composed about the year 1720, by John Bruce, a musician of the town of Dumfries ; and Oswald afterwards published it with variations in the last volume of his Caledonian Pocket Companion." See Museum Illustrations, vol. iii. p. 236. John Bruce's title to be considered the composer of this air is at best very doubtful. We learn from John Mayne, who mentions him among his worthies in the " Siller Gun," 1836, that Bruce was born at Braemar — was engaged in the rebellion of 1745— was taken prisoner, and confined for some time in Edinburgh Castle— and after- wards settled in Dumfries, where he spent the remainder of his life. Mayne adds — " He is supposed by Burns to have been the composer of the favourite Scots air of ' Wliistle o'er the lave o't.' This opinion is altogether erroneous ; for, although John Bruce was an admirable performer, he never was known as a composer of music. The air in question was composed long before he existed."
In order to render the melody of the seventh bar (measure) more vocal, a slight alteration has been made upon it ; but the original passage is given in the first bar of the ritornel.
This air affords examples of what has been called the " Scottish catch," or "snap," a characteristic of the strath- spey, which, though not confined entirely to that species of dance music, is yet only occasionally met with in our old slow vocal airs. This peculiarity was seized upon during last century by the English imitators of Scottish music, and was used most unsparingly in their productions. Of this the Anglo-Scottish airs contained in the first volume of Johnson's Museum afford abundant proof; among these we may particularise " The banks of Tweed," " My dear Jockey," " Kate of Aberdeen," and " Sweet Annie frae the sea-beach came." The use or abuse of this " catch" was not confined, however, to imitations of Scottish airs, but was even introduced into the Italian Operatic music of the day. Writing of the London Opera in 1748, Dr. Burney, (History of Music, vol. iv. p. 457,) says, — " There was at this time too much of Scots catch, or cutting short the first of two notes in a melody, thus : —
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Again, at p. 466, note (d), writing about Tito Manlio, an opera brought out by Abos, a composer of the Neapolitan school, in 1756, he says, — " The first air, however, is pleasing, ' Se che piil amor,' but has too much repetition and Soots snap of the first two notes." And again, same page, note (c), giving some account of the airs in the pasticcio " Olimpiade," brought out in 1755, he says, — "' Grandi fe ver,' by Pergolesi, not in his best manner, nor without Scoticisms." As we have not seen the music here alluded to, we suppose that he refers to the " snap" or " catch" that he mentions elsewhere as being so prevalent. At p. 472, speaking of the Neapolitan school, he says, — " The Scots snap seems to have been contagious in that school at this time, (1759,) for all the three masters concerned in this opera. (Vologeso,) are lavish of it." The masters alluded to are Perez, Cocchi, and Jomelli.
No. xni. 0
34
SCOTTISH SONGS.
OH! THOU ART ALL SO TENDER.
AIR, "MY LOVE HAS FOKSAKEN ME.
AJIRANGED BY T. M. MUDIE.
'= 63
Andante.
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Oh ! thou art all so ten - der, so
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love - ly, and mild, The
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oh! thou art all so tender.
35
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joy, And fair, as fair - est
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Concluding Sj/7tiphoni/.
Though long and deep my sorrow, all lonely thus may be. Oh ! still my heart shall borrow a ray of joy from thee ; To thee the charms seem given of earth that never sprung, The melting hymns of heaven are round thy spirit sung.
Then let thy form be near me, that I that form may see, I've tried to live, but eerie, I cannot live from thee ; Nor grudge deep kindness either, to sooth me when I sigh, I know thoul't give it rather than thou would'st see me die.
Though mine thou may'st be never, and ceaseless woes betide, Still nouglit on earth shall ever my love ii'om thee divide ; My mind may cease to cherish the hope of bUss to be, But of the hopes that perish the last shall breathe of thee.
" Oh ! THOU AM ALL SO tenher." This song was written by the Rev. Henry Scott Riddell, and is here repub- lished by his express permission. The air is that given in Johnson's Museum, vol. ii., under the name of "My love has forsaken me," and which is stated, by Mr. Stenhouse, to have been furnished for the Museum by Doctor Blacklock, about the close of 1787. It has somewhat of a Gaelic cast, and from the simplicity of its style, and the tonality on which it is composed, we would pronounce it to be considerably older than Dr. Blacklock's time.
As a preliminary to the consideration of Riizio's alleged authorship of many Scottish melodies, we subjoin a few particulars of his life. We are told by Chalmers that David Rizzio* was born at Turin, of poor parents ; and that he came to Scotland in the suite of the Piedmontese Ambassador, towards the end of the year 1561. Soon afterwards he entered the service of Queen Mary, for we find that on the 8th January 1.561-2, he received £50 Scots, as " virlet of the Queen's chalmer ; " and again, three months later, £15, as " chalmer-chield," (page or usher.) The account given of his entrance into the Queen's household, is, that a fourth singer was occasionally wanted to take a part in the performance of madrigals and other concerted vocal music, and that he, having a good voice and being skilled in music, was engaged to fill the situation. In this position he seems to have remained for several years, for in 1564 we find that four payments were made to him at the rate of £80 a-year, still as " virlet." In 1565, the Queen's French Secretary having been dismissed, Rizzio was appointed to succeed him, but did not long enjoy his new office, as he was murdered about the close of the same year, (9th March); having thus been little more than four years in the country.
* Or rather Riccio ; for thus Queen Srary spells the name in writing an account of the murder to the .Archbishop of Glas'^ow, then her Ambassador at the Court of France.
36
SCOTTISH SONGS.
AULD LANG SYNE.
AKBAKUKD BY J. T. SL'BKNNIi.
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Should auld ac-quain-tance
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Bi
^E
^qi:i=izi?=
?
T
f^^^f^^
3
3=^
i^^l^
^^^^^
^zi-g^it
be for - got, And ne - ver brought to mind? Should auld ao-quain- tance be for - got, And
li
1^=^
N=i='^
-*-
IS*
^
-• — •-
^
^==^=
m--
days o' lang syne ?
For auld
lang
syne, my dear, For
i^
m
r=3=f
m/
1
es
?=i=
3
AULD LANG SYNE.
37
We twa ha'e run about the braes,
And pu'd the gowans' fine, But we've wander'd mony a weary foot.
Sin' auld lang syne.
For auld lang syne, &c.
We twa ha'e paidelt" in the burn,'
Frae morning sim till dine ; But seas between us braid ha'e roar'd.
Sin' auld lang syne.
For auld lang syne, &c
1 Daisies. 3 Walked
J Corapanion. — In yome editioas the word is
And here's a hand my trusty fere,*
And gi'es a hand o' thine ; And we'll take a richt-gude-willie waught,'
For auld lang syne.
For auld lang syne, &c.
And surely ye'll be your pint-stonp.
And surely I'll be mine ; And we'll tak' a cup o' kindness yet.
For auld lang syne.
For auld lang syne, &c.
backwards and forwards. b Brook.
" friend." 5 A draught mth riglit gcpod wil].
" AuiD LANG STNE." " Biu'ns admitted to Johnson, that three of the stanzas of Lang-syne only were old ; the other two being written by himself. These three stanzas relate to the cup, the plnt-stoiip, and a gude-wiUie wauyht; those two introduced by Burns have relation to the innocent amusements of youth, contrasted with the cares and troubles of maturer age." In introducing this song to Mrs. Dunlop of Dunlop, the daughter of Sir Thomas Wallace of Craigie, and a descendant of the race of Elderslie, the poet says : — " Is not the Scotch phrase, ' auld lang syne,' exceedingly expressive? There is an old song and tune (of this name) which have often thrilled through my
soul Light be the turf on the breast of the heaven-inspired poet who composed this glorious fragment !
There is more of the fire of native genius in it than in half-a-dozen of modern Bacchanalians !"
As Burns had mentioned that the old tune adapted to the song in Johnson's Museum was but mediocre, Mr. Thomson got the woi-ds arranged to the air, " I fee'd a lad at Michaelmas," to which they are now always eung. " Shield introduced it in his overture to the opera of Rosiua, written by Sir. Brooks, and acted at Covent- Garden in 1783. It is the last movement of that overture, and in imitation of a Scottish bagpipe tune, in which the oboe is substituted for the chanter, and the bassoon for the drone." In Cumming's Collection the air is found under the title of "The miller's wedding." Gow, in one collection, called it "The miller's daughter;" while in another he gave it the name of " Sir Alexander Don's strathspey," in compliment to the late baronet of Newton-don, in the county of Roxburgh, who was both a good violin-player, and a steady patron of the musical art. Seo Museum Illustrations, vol. v. pp. 874, 875.
38
SCOTTISH SONGS.
HIGHLAND MARY.
AIE, "KATUERINB OGIE."*
AllKANQED BY T. M. MTJDIE.
P = 72 i
Andante Mesto.
m
BEjgz- =^=iig3r =^=1^^=^=^^ =E^|i*=&^?
rr"
? *-
eis
^^^"r
P
:EJt
r
ST
F-
35
^
:^
szz^zn^M
3^:
P^^l
•— #-
Ye banks, and braes, and streams a - round The cas - tie o' Mont -
S
m- &-
fe^=
n
r r
r
-:g--
-T==Si — ■'
B?=¥=F
^
fe^i=t
=pa=
pa— ] — ff* j- — --- ■"- r3-
^
-^i« — #-
^F^S=:^
me-ry, Green be your woods, and fair your flow'rs, Your wa - ters ue - ver
iS
t
|r.EE«^^S^E™^:
^m
w
* — *--
e^
H^ — r— «i"
-a — g-
"^
^^
F£
»^^
E^E
::p^=i=
drum - lie ! There sim - mer first un - fauld ber robes, And
H H
l^EEaE
^=«t
:^
-c^
i=i^^;
ai±
=^=
-^-
* Ogre, in the Celtic, meana liiile or young.
HIGHLAND MARY.
39
^^^^^^i^^^^^H
there the lang - est tar - ry ! For there I took the last fare - weel O'
i;
mm
i^^=
»3
#
V I^
w
EME^
^
T
ee:
'mW^'^Zrr
"I J i • J P
jj^
How sweetly hloom'd the gay green birk,
How rich the hawthorn's blossom, As underneath their fi-agrant shade,
I clasp'd her to my bosom ! The golden hours, on angel wings.
Flew o'er me and my dearie ; For dear to me as light and life
Was my sweet Highland Mary.
Wi' monie a vow, and lock'd embrace,
Our parting was fu' tender ; And pledging aft to meet again.
We tore ourselves asunder : But, oh ! fell death's untimely frost,
That nipp'd my flower sae early ! Now green's the sod, and cauld's the clay,
That wraps my Highland Mary !
0 pale, pale now those rosy lips
I aft ha'e kiss'd sae fondly ! And closed for aye the sparkling glance
That dwelt on me sae kindly ; And mouldering now in silent dust,
That heart that lo'ed me dearly ! But still within my bosom's core
Shall live my liighlaud Mary.
"Highland Mart." Burns composed this song to the air of "Katherine Ogie." In a letter to Mr. George Thomson, dated 14th November 1792, he says : — " I agree with you that the song, Katherine Ogie, is very poor Btuff, and altogether unworthy of so beautiful an air. I tried to mend it, but the awkward sound Otjie recurring so often in the rhyme, spoils every attempt at introducing sentiment into the piece. The foregoing song pleases myself; I think it is in my happiest manner ; you will see at first glance that it suits the air. The subject of the song is one of the most interesting passages of my youthful days ; and I own that I should be much flattered to see the verses set to an air which would insure celebrity. Perhaps, after all, 'tis the still glowing prejudice of my heart that throws a borrowed lustre over the merits of the composition." It appears that the air of Katherine Ogie, with the words, " As I went furth to view the plain," which are characterized by Burns as " very poor stuff," was sung with great applause by Mr. John Abell, one of the gentlemen of the Chapel-Royal, at his concert in Stationers' Hall, London, in the year 1680. Also, that it was printed with the music and words, by an engraver of the name of Cross, as a single sheet song, in the course of that year. The air appears as Scottish in D'Urfey's Pills, and various subsequent publications. It is found in the Leyden MS., a copy of which was lately presented by the Editor to the Library of the Faculty of Advocates, Edinburgh.
40.
SCOTTISH SOKGS.
THE LASS OP PATIE'S MILL.
AKBANGED BY O. P. GEAHAM.
f==r
ff9s=5
^
~B — • '~
:1-T
m
s
m
:9t±
^:=b&=^:atii
The las3 of Pa - tie's
mill.
BE
ss
3^
Pl=
'^^
So bon - nie, bijthe, and
^^
i--.N
--^^A
-!9-
l^Tf-
n
^
a~
^
e
:^E^
:n-
epite of all my
a
gay,
In
skill,
She stole my heart a -
i35
S^
i
T^"^
r r
fedE
-&-
IZ2I
« •-
T
izz:
=J
:P=^
?EEE
e^
^
ii
way.
When
^
ted - ding of the
g of the hay,
Bare
M=ES
t^—-
eE
s
:p:pi*i
=3=
THE LASS OP PATIE S MILL.
41
Without the help of art,
Like iiow'rs "which grace the wild, She did her sweets impart,
Whene'er she spoke or smiled. Her looks they were so mild.
Free from affected pride. She me to love beguiled ;
I wish'd her for my bride.
0 ! had I all that wealth
Hopetoun's high mountains' fill. Insured long life and health,
And pleasure at my will ; I'd promise and fulfil
That none but bonnie she. The lass of Patie's mill.
Should share the same with me.
' The Lead-hills, belonging to the Earl of Hopctoun.
" The l.^ss of Patie's mill." Mr. Stenhouse, in his Note upon No. 20 of the Museum, gives a romantic account of the heroine of this song, irom the Statistical Account of Scotland, which the reader may consult, if curious in matters so uncertain as old family traditions of the sixteenth century. From that account we learn that she was the only daughter of John Anderson, Esq., of Patie's Mill, in the parish of Keith-hall, and county of Aberdeen. That she was very beautiful and accomplished, and a rich heiress in prospect. That a Mr. Sangster, the Laird of Boddom, tried to carry off Jliss Anderson, clandestinely, about the year 1550, and was disappointed, and soundly drubbed by her father. That she afterwards married a Mr. Anderson, who " composed a song in her praise, the air of which only is now preserved." All this may be true, or not ; but Jlr. Stenhouse's assertion, that " the air as has been shown, is at least as old as the middle of the sixteenth century," cannot be received without written or printed evidence in musical notation ; of which there is not a shadow. The air, No. 20 of Johnson's Museum, is very unlike a Scottish air of " the middle of the sixteenth century." So is the set given in the first volume of John Watts' " Musical Miscellany," London, 1729, page 97 ; while that set differs materially from Johnson's. All the sets of the air that we have seen, bear internal evidence — ft-om certain passages and cadences — of modern structure, not earlier than the commencement of the eighteenth century. It is surprising that Mr. Stenhouse did not perceive this. Mr. Stenhouse adds, in his Note on this song and air, " Allan Ramsay adapted his modern words to the old melody, and transferred the heroine of his muse to the parish of Galston, in the county of Ayr, where a mill with a similar name was existing. Burns gives us the following account of this translocation, upon the authority of Sir William Cunningham of Robertland, Baronet, to whom the anecdote was communicated by the late John, Earl of Loudon : — ' The then Earl of Loudon, father of Earl John before-mentioned, had Ramsay at Loudon, and one day walking by the banks of Irvine water, near New-Mills, at a place yet called Patie's Mill, ' they were struck with the appearance of a beautiful country girl. His Lordship observed tiiat she would be a fine theme for a song. Allan lagged behind in returning to Loudon Castle, and at dinner produced this identical song.' " — Burns's Beliques. For further information regarding the .Song, see Appendix.
In this work the second stanza of Ramsay's song is omitted, for very obvious reasons.
SCOTTISH SONGS.
WHAT AILS THIS HEART 0' MINE 1
AREAMGED BY T. M. MUDIE.
88
Lahgiietto.
^
V
tr^^-^-^-^.
-&-
m
m^m
-r — ^-^-^
-^-*-w-
poco rail.
*^'
What ails this heart o' mine ! What ails this wa - fry e'e I What
^
n
H-f-
-ff
mi
^i
^
m
T^
p^^^g^B^a^Plfliglgip^ilE
EE*
gars* me a' turn cauld as death AVhen I take leave o' thee ? When thou art far a - wa^ Thou'lt
*
ii
r-=^=j=
T
^>-
s*
^
J h=^|]^
O-1-fS-
l=p=?=F^=i=^-
a piaecre.
mE^
"a — '^ "~
-»T-
^-
-(» —
^-ffl-^— ^-
=^
dear - er grow to me ; But change o' place an' change o' foil; May gar thy fan - cy jee."
=^=
fci
E^
colla voce.
-# . p
ail:
1=
^ — *
:^c=^
1=S^
U
WHAT AILS THIS HEART o' MINE?
43
^E
When I gae out at e'en,
Or walk at morning air, Ilk ' rustling bush will seem to say
I used to meet thee there. Then I'll sit down and cry,
And live aneath the tree. And when a leaf fa's in my lap
I'll ea't a word frae thee.
I'll hie me to the bower
That thou wi' roses tied, And where wi' mony a blushing bud
I strove mysel' to hide.
• Make ; cause.
I'll doat on ilka spot
Where I ha'e been wl' thee , And ca' to mind some kindly word
By ilka burn and tree !
Wi' sic thoughts i' my mind.
Time through the world may gae, And find my heart in twenty years
The same as 'tis to-day. 'Tis thoughts that bind the soul,
And keep friends i' the e'e ; And gin I think I see thee aye.
What can part thee and me !
P MoTB : change.
" What ails this heart o' mine ?" The words are by Miss Susanna Blamire ; two of whose songs have already appeared in this work. See vol. ii. pp. 7, 19. The melody is old, and was formerly called, "My dearie, an' thou dee:" it appears in its simpler form in the Leyden MS., referred to svpra, p. 25, &c. Mr. Patrick Maxwell, in his edition of Miss Blamire's poems, 1842, informs us, that she was born at Cardcn Hall, Cumberland, on 12th January 1747; that she passed a good deal of her time in Scotland — her eldest sister, Sarah, having married Colonel Graham of Gartmore in 1767; and that she died at Carlisle on 5th April 1794. Mr. Maxwell says of her : — " She had a graceful form, somewhat above the middle size, and a countenance, though slightly marked with the small-pox, beaming with good nature ; her dark eyes sparkled with animation, and won every heart at the first introduction. She was called by her affectionate countrymen, ' a bonnie and varra lish young lass,' — which may be interpreted as meaning a beautiful and very lively young girl. Her afi'ability and total freedom from affectation put to flight that reserve which her presence was apt to create in the minds of her humbler associates ; for they quickly perceived that she really wished them happiness, and aided in promoting it by every effort in her power. She freely mingled in their social parties, called mcrri/ nects, in Cumberland ; and by her graceful figure, elegant dancing, and kind-hearted gaiety, gave a zest to the entertainments, which, without her presence, would have been wanting."
In our first volume we had occasion to animadvert on the share that James Oswald had taken in the promulga- tion of a belief that Rizzio was the composer of some of our old Scottish melodies. Since writers, who oun-ht to have acquired better information, have not only re-echoed Oswald's mis-statement, but have, besides, asserted that Rizzio was the originator of the Scottish style of melody, we consider it our duty to examine the question thoroughly, with the view of bringing it to a true conclusion. This will require more space than can be afl'orded to any single Note; we shall therefore present our materials in such paragraphs as they may naturally fall into. How or when such a belief originated, may be difficult to determine; but certainly there are no traces of it for a century and a-half after Rizzio's death. During all that time there is no historical hint that Rizzio ever composed anything in any style of music; and not a vestige of any music, sacred or secular, is ascribed to him. Tassoni, his countrj-- man, (born in 1565, the year of Rizzio's murder,) speaking of music, says, that James, King of Scotland, invented a new and plaintive style of melody. Whether this assertion be correct or not, is of no consequence to our present inquiry. In either case Tassoni's assertion is sufficient to show, not only that no claim had till then been set up in favour of Rizzio, but also, that an earlier origin was then assigned to Scottish melody. We here exclude from consideration J.ames VI., as he was King of England long before Tassoni died, (1635) ; and we consider it probable that James I. was meant — he at least being known to have included music among his accomplishments, and being said to have been an excellent performer on the lute, the harp, and other instruments. (See p. 45 for the continu- ation of this inquiry.)
44
SCOTTISH SOIfGS.
THE GLOOMY NIGHT IS GATH'RING PAST.
AIR, " HUGHIE GBAUAM."
ARRANGED BY J. T. SUKENNE.
Adagio sostenuto.
gii^g^a
W^ r
HSfeS
T^
tf
^
^
^^
&
33^
iKF
122:
?^
izfi
I?Z3t
i^^ciii
I22I
The gloom - y night is
th'ring fast, Loud roars the
^55
If
I
■^
r -/
f
-SI-
"^""T
r
ff
THE GLOOMY NIGHT IS GATH RING FAST.
45
dim. ! r
if^
The hunter now has left the moov, The scatter'd coveys meet secure, While here I wander, prcss'd with care, Along the lonely banks of Ayr.
The autumn mourns her ripening corn By early winter's ravage torn ; Across her placid azm-e sky She sees the scowling tempest fly :
Chill rins my blood to hear it rave — I think upon the stormy wave, Where many a danger I must dare, Far fi-om the bonnie banks of Ayr.
'Tis not the surging billows' roar, 'Tis not that fatal, deadly shore ; Though death in every shape appear, The wretched liave no more to fear :
But round my heart the ties are bound, That heart transpierced with many a wound ; These bleed afi-esh, those ties I tear, To leave the bonnie banks of Ayr.
Farewell, old Coila's hills and dales. Her heathy moors and winding vales ; The scene where wretched fancy roves. Pursuing past, unhappy loves 1
Farewell, my fi-iends, farewell, my foes, My peace with these, my love with those ; The bursting tears my heart declare ; Farewell, the bonnie banks of Ayr.
" The GLOOJrr night is gath'king fast." " I composed this song," says Burns, " as I convoyed my chest so far on the road to Greenock, where I was to embark in a few days for Jamaica. I meant it as my farewell dirge to my native land." — Kdiques. This was in 1786. It appears that this song was set to music by, his friend Mr. Allan Masterton, a Writing-master in Edinburgh. Masterton's air is mediocre enough, and is singularly unvocal and ill-suited to the words in the first part of the second strain. At that period, and long before, as well as long after, most of the am.ateur musicians in Great Britain were men who could merely play a little on some musical instrument, or sing a little, without any farther knowledge of music, or cultivation of their own musical capabilities, whatever these might be. Hence so many very indifl'erent Scottish melodies that infest our printed musical collec- tions ; mere imitations, and mostly affected and bad ones, of the better and more ancient Scottish airs ; combining want of knowledge of musical composition with want of feeling and judgment.
The air to which Burns' words are given in this work, is found in Oswald's Caledonian Pocket Companion, under the name of " Drimon Duif ; " in the Museum, vol. iv., it is set to the Border ballad, " Hughie Graham." We beUeve it to be an old Highland air, and that its original title was " Drumion dubh," or " The black cow." Whatever its origin or its antiquity, it is undoubtedly Scottish, and is a very good and characteristic melody. For the old ballad of " Hughie Graham," see Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, vol. iii. edit. 1833.
We now return to Rizzio. From what we have already stated, and from what follows, we are inclined to believe that Rizzio's name was first connected with Scottish melody by his countrymen who were in England about the beginning of last century. We know that Italian music was then fashionable in London, and that Scottish song divided the public taste with it. Whether the flowing style of melgdy pecuUar to the Lowland pastoral airs induced the belief that an Italian only could have written them, we do not pretend to say, but it is certain that Rizzio was first heard of as a composer in 1725, when Thomson published his Orpheus Caledonius. In this there are seven airs ascribed to Rizzio ; " An thou wert mine ain thing," " Bessie Bell," " Auld Rob Morris," " The boatman," "The bush iboon Traquair," "The lass o' Patie's mill," and "Down the burn Davie;" of these at least three certainly had not existed much above half a century, and the last was probably a very recent composition. Such is the earliest evidence in favoiu- of Rizzio, and slight as it is, its authority is considerably lessened by the fact, that in the second edition of the Orpheus Caledonius, (1738,) Thomson, perhaps taking shame to himself for ■-■having been an accessory to the imposture, suppressed Eizzio's name entirely. (See p. 51 for a continuation of the subject.)
46
SCOTTISH SONGS.
GILDEROY.
ARKANOEB BT EINLAT DUN.
' = 60
Lento
Mesto.
S^-BEF
a^
3=?=id=*=£:
^;i*-;^:
a
p
f
itii
*~ir
¥
ts
^m.
fe*:
S
^^s^^^^^^^^^M
:=PT
"K^
S
The last, the dread -ed* hour is come. That bears my love from
4 #*-*^
a=
^^
=P=2
Jzi* — ^i
■ I ri
3i^
^-" — = — ^-^
1^
-F — F-
3^:
fe^
P-
H-^-» *• » * , l-W — 1-- — >»J b-| — — • — C— J—
^
±=^:
^
hear the dead note of the drum, I mark the fa - tal +
'2:;'' P cres. ' J> '^.^ - —
I — \f r^^^ — — zj. — i ii^ — '
fe^
Eg
^^'
tree.
The hell has toU'd ; it shakes my heart : The trum - pet speaks thy
^:
SS^=
^
^-^'—w^-
m&i
'ft
3iS
t
cres. mf
-|S — ;
^
■-F-
I
• Oi'ig.. fatal, f Or/*?., galloTVEi. — These words have been altered, not as improvements on the poetry, but merely as more suitable for singing,
GlLDEROT.
4;-
fef^
i^
narae ;
'^
S
f'?5=S:
^^^1^^^
r^^r
And must my Gil - de - roy de - part To bear a death of
y^r
Si£^
&
^^
T
^=3=*
f^
ttp:
»T»-1»-
-a-t
^^Efei
The stanzas ■within brackets may be omitted in singings
[No bosom trembles for thy doom ;
No mourner wipes a tear ; The gallows' foot is all thy tomb, The sledge is all thy bier.]
Oh, Gilderoy ! bethought we then
So soon, so sad to part, When first in Roslin's loTely glen
You triumph'd o'er my heart ?
Tour locks they gUtter'd to the sheen, Your hunter garb was trim ;
And graceful was the ribbon green That bound your manly limb !
[Ah ! little thought I to deplore Those limbs in fetters bound ; Or hear, upon the scaffold floor, The midnight hammer sound.]
[Ye cruel, cruel, that combined
The guiltless to pursue ; My Gilderoy was ever kind. He could not injure you !]
A long adieu ! but where shall fly
Thy widow all forlorn, When ev'ry mean and cruel eye
Regards my wo with scorn ?
Yes ! they will mock thy widow's tears. And hate thine orphan boy ;
Alas ! his infant beauty wears The form of Gilderoy.
[Then will I seek the dreary mound That wraps thy mouldering clay. And weep and linger on the ground. And sigh my heart away.]
" Gilderoy." With regard to the origin of the air, we have no information. It has a modern aspect in the current versions, which are nearly the same as that found in the Orpheus Caledonius, ed. 1733. The verses given in this work were written by our celebrated countryman, Thomas Campbell ; we believe they are here adapted to the air for the first time. The old ballad of Gilderoy seems to have been published about 1650. The current copy, with alterations, ascribed to Lady Wardlaw, the authoress of " Hardyknute," is much too long for a sonc ; and is besides, objectionable in other respects. The hero of the ballad, Gilderoy, was, it seems, a desperate freebooter in Perthshire, who, after committing many atrocities, was seized and hanged, with five of his followers at the Gallowlee, between Leith and Edinburgh, in July 1638.
Lord Hailes, in his Annals of Scotland, vol. i., ed. 1797, speaking of an Irish chief, Gilrodh, who made an incursion into Scotland in 1283, appends a note regarding the name, p. 349 — " Properly Qilruadh, that is, the red-haired lad. And hence the modern corrupted name of Gilderoy."
48
SCOTTISH SONGS.
I MET FOUR CHAPS YON BIRKS AMANG.
AIR, "JENNV'S DAWBEE."
0^
ARRANGED BY J. T. SURENNE.
'= 88
MOBERATO.
-F ^-
y-
-B=
:^
I i P — z} z*-?— • — y
mf
T r,
m
ffitfe
f-
^iE^fe
Ai=F
i=Eg^r=g^^fe5;^EJE^^^^E;g|^ig
ii
^
— *— •-
met four chaps ;'on birks amang, Wi' hing - ing lugs' and fa - ces lang : I spier'd^ at nee - hour
a
w
nirijfc.-
^^^iS
-^
^-^
:J^=ts;
.* .^ f-f
^
Baul - dy Strang, Wha's they I see 1 Quo' he, Ilk cream-faced paw - ky chiel,^ Thocht
3=E^=
a 1 ftJ
^:
zMz«z
^^
■» a^ *
-• — #~
to/
-r-
^
-& -*-
■^.==K
^=3^=i:
^=?^
=^^
^
V=t
-• — •-
he was eun - ning as the deil. And here they cam' a - wa' to steal
i»«=^
ig:
^S^.
r — r — r — r
r
-*
Bltt
P^
It
I MET FOUR CHAPS TON BIRKS AMANQ.
49
tt
S
1
&i
Jen - nv's baw - bee.''
P
* • 1^
-^-^
i^
r^ — ^* — ^-
rx r
a4
r. r
ny"
^g=B=3
^«^-^-^-
^=r
^^
The first, a Captain to his trade,
Wi' skull ill-lined, but back weel-clad,
March'd round the barn, and by the shed.
And pappit' on his knee : Quo' he, "My goddess, nymph, and queen. Your beauty's dazzled baith my een ! " But deil a beauty he had seen
But — Jenny's bawbee.
A Lawyer neist, wi' blatherin' gab,* Wha speeches woto like ony wab, In ilk ane's corn aye took a dab,
And a' for a fee. Accounts he owed through a' the to\ui, And tradesmen's tongues nae mair could drown. But now he thocht to clout his gouu
Wi' Jenny's bawbee.
A Norland Laird neist trotted up,
Wi' bawsand' naig and siller whup,
Cried, " There's my beast, lad, haud the grup.
Or tie 't till a tree : What's gowd to me ? — I've walth o' Ian' ! Bestow on ane o' worth your han' ! " — He thocht to pay what he was awn
Wi' Jenny's bawbee.
Brest up just like the knave o' clubs, A TEiNG came neist, (but life has rubs,) Foul were the roads, and fu' the dubs,'
And jaupit^ a' was he. He danced up, squinting through a glass, And grinn'd, " I' faith, a bonnie lass !" He thought to win, wi' front o' brass,
Jenny's bawbee.
She bade the Laird gae kame his wig, The Sodger no to strut sae big, The Lawyer no to be a prig,
The fool, he cried, " Tehee ! I kenn'd that I could never fail !" But she preen'di" the dishclout to his tail, And soused him wi' the water-pail.
And kept her bawbee.
Then Johnnie cam', a lad o' sense, Although he had na mony pence ; And took young Jenny to the spence,"
Wi' her to crack '^ a wee. Now Johnnie was a clever chiel. And here his suit he press'd sae wcel, That Jenny's heart grew saft a.s jeel.
And she birled'^ her bawbee.
' Ears. - Asked. ^ Sly fellow. < Fortune ; Scod'ce— toe!
*>' Babbling tongue. 7 Having a white spot on its forehead.
'" Pinned. ' ' The inner apartment of a country house. '- To chat.
literally — a half-penny. 5 Popped ; dropped,
s Puddles ; pools. 9 Bespattered.
13 Consented to share ; to birl, means also to toss up.
" Jenny's bawbee." This air has long been a favourite dancing tune ; but it appears also to have been early adapted to words. A fragment of the old song is given by Herd, in his Collection of 1776 : its merits are not great; but even had they been greater, it must still have been supplanted by the humorous verses which we give above. These were written by the late Sir Alexander Boswell, Bart., and were published by him anonymously in 1803. He afterwards presented them to Mr. George Thomson for his Collection of Scottish Melodies. Allan Cunningham, in his Songs of Scotland, 1825, gives Sir Alexander's verses with an additional stanza, (the last,) which did not appear in the earlier copies ; whether it was an after-thought of the author himself, or was added by another, is uncertain. Sir Alexander Boswell was the eldest son of Dr. Johnson's biographer, and was born in 1775; he died 27th March 1822. He was distinguished as an amiable and spirited country gentleman, and also as a literary antiquary of considerable erudition. Perhaps his taste in the latter capacity was greatly fostered by the possession of an excellent collection of old manuscripts and books, gathered together by his ancestors, and well known under the title of the " Auchinleck Library." From the stores of this collection. Sir Walter Scott pub- lished, in 1804, the romance of " Sir Tristrem," which is believed to be the earliest specimen extant of poetry by a Scotsman. Its author, Thomas of Erceldoune, called the Rhymer, flourished in the thirteenth century. See Chambers' Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen.
No. XIV. ■ D
50
SCOTTISH SONGS.
AFTON WATER.
AEEANGED BY O. F. QKAHAJI.
P= 63
Lenio
CON
Teneeezza.
|
-* -• |
-J- |
|||
|
=^^g=EgfE^^; |
^-^=^^ |
^m^
^-F 1^
::^
^
Flow gent - ly, sweet Af - ton, a - mong thy green
-f^
^JeI^^ePPP^e
ei
^
1=,=^
a=T^
=f »-j— j=j-
^
H'-o-^^g^
braes, Flow gent - ly, I'll sing thee a aong in thy praise ;
$^^^^^^g^^^
m
rj
t=^
^-■
=3=
^^^
^^
^=^
m^^
:t^
9—^
My Ma - ry's a
sleep by thy
mur - mur - ing
^^^
r*
^-
^
H
*^t
B?
^=:f=
j^i
f-r^-'T
T— r
AFTON WATEK.
51
^
i
stream ; Fluw
gent - ly,
Af - ton,
(lis
turb not her
12
^
m
^
-^-
m
dream.
m
m
iiczgi
S^
-a!-*-
Thou stock-dove, whose echo resounds through the glen, Ye wild whistling blackbirds, in yon flow'ry den, Thou green-crested lap-wing, thy screaming forbear, I charge you, disturb not my slumbering fair.
How lofty, sweet Afton, thy neighbouring hills, Far mark'd with the courses of clear- winding rills ; There daily I wander, as morn rises high, My flocks and my Mary's sweet cot in my eye.
How pleasant thy banks and green valleys below, Where wild in the woodlands the primroses blow ;
There oft, as mild evening creeps o'er the lea, The sweet-scented birk shades my Mary and me.
Thy crystal stream, Afton, how lovely it glides. And winds by the cot where my Mary resides ! How wanton thy waters her snowy feet lave. As, gath'ring sweet flow'rets, she stems thy clear wave!
Flow gently, sweet Afton, among thy green braes ; Flow gently, sweet river, the theme of my lays ; My Mary's asleep by thy murmiu-ing stream ; Flow gently, sweet Afton, disturb not her dream.
" Afton Watek." " This song was written by Burns, and presented by him, as a tribute of gratitude and respect, to Mrs. Stewart of Afton Lodge, for the notice she had taken of the bard, being the first he ever received from any person in her rank of life. He afterwards transmitted the verses, along with the beautiful melody to which they arc adapted, to Johnson, the publisher of the Musetun. Afton is a small river in Ayrshire, a, tributary stream of the Nith. Mrs. Stewart inherited the property of Afton Lodge, which is situated upon its banks, in right of her father." See Museum Illustrations, vol. iv. p. 355. It does not appear whence Burns obtained the ah-, of which the author is unknown. -
After the publication of the Orpheus Caledonius, (see p. 45,) we hear no more of Rizzio till the appearance of Oswald's Second Collection of Scottish Airs in 1742. There we find four of those airs, formerly ascribed to Rizzio by Thomson, passed over without any such ascription, while six others have the name of " Rizo " attached to them ; these are, " The cock laird," " The last time I cam' o'er the muir," " Peggy, I must love thee," " The black eagle," "The lowlands of Holland," and " 'William's ghost;" the last of these airs being a composition of the day, perhaps even by Oswald himself. We thus see clearly enough that no dependence can be placed on these men — their pre- tended knowledge is mere assumption, which, however it might have imposed on the credulous and the uninforme(^, will not bear the test of sober criticism. It is to be remarked, that both these works, the Orpheus Caledonius, and Oswald's Second Collection, appeared in Loudon; and that the contemporaneous Edinburgh Collections, AUan Ramsay's, circa 1726, Adam Craig's, 1730, and William Macgibbon's, 1742, while they contain most, if not all the airs already named, do not make any mention whatever of Rizzio. On the contrary, Craig, in dedicating his work to the " Musical Society of Mary's Chappell," states, that the airs are " the native and genuine product of the country; " words which he would not have used without alluding in some way to Rizzio, had there been any tradition then current in Scotland, connecting him with Scottish melody. (See p. 63 for a continuation of the subject.)
52
SCOTTISH SONGS.
FOR THE SAKE 0' SOMEBODY.
AEKA5GED BY J. T. SURENNE.
i
J^» — ;— =— ff ^— — A W . g d^ — dV*— -hi 1-
-«^— #
:p=5^
_^_!_
heart is saip, I daur - na tell, My heart is sair for some - bo - dy ; I could wake a
;i^
J^-
#
-=— « — a-
5=3==^
m^
E53
=?=^
^=s=
S
win - ter night. For the sake o' some - bo - dy.
Oh - hon, for some - bo - dy !
zi^i
^~i
m^^
• i— i ^—. — "~^ =?© ;|g-
*:
*=:=^
poco rail..
FOE THE SAKE 0 SOMEBODY.
53
Ye powers that smile on virtuous love,
0 sweetly smile on somebody ! Frae ilka danger keep him ft'ee, And send me safe my somebody. Oh-hon, for somebody! Oh hey, for somebody ! I wad do — what wad I not ? — For the sake o' somebody.
" For the sake o' somebody." In this work we have not adopted the set of the air given by Johnson in his Museimi, but the long-received and established popular set of the an-. The superiority of the latter is sufficient to justify this. Mr. Stenliouse says : — " The whole of this song, as printed in the Museum, beginning, ' My heart is sau-, I daurna tell,' was written by Bm-ns, except the tliird and fourth lines of stanza first, which are taken from Hamsay's song, under the same title and to the same old tune, which may also be seen m Oswald's Caledonian Pocket Companion. To this work, Bm-ns, in a note annexed to the manuscript song, refers Johnson for the music. Ramsay's verses are in the shape of a dialogue between a lover and his sweetheart ; but they possess very little merit. The old air consists of one simple strain, ending on the third of the key. It is probable that the melody had been originally adapted to a much older set of verses than those of Ramsay, and that the old song consisted of stanzas of four, in place of eight Unes each." See Museum Illustrations, vol. v. p. 383.
Having shown (p. 45) that Rizzio's name as a composer was not heard of for 160 years after his death, we shall now notice a few instances in which high merit is claimed for him as a melodist. Geminiani, in his '• Treatise on good taste in the art of Music," London, 1749, has the following strange passage : — " Two composers of music have appeared in the world, who, in their different kinds of melody, have raised my admiration ; namely, David Rizzio, and Gio. Baptista Lulli : of these, which stands highest is none of my business to pronounce ; but when I consider that Rizzio was foremost in point of time, that till then melody was entirely rude and barbarous, and that he found means to civilize and inspire it with all the gallantry of the Scottish nation, I am inclinable to give him the pre- ference." It is imnecessary for us to answer what we have already sho-wn to be a fiction of recent origin. We shall merely place in opposition an extract from Dr. Campbell's Philosophical Survey of the South of Ireland : — " That this music, or any one single Scottish air, was invented or composed by the unfortunate Rizzio, is only noticed here as an absurd fable, which having no support, merits no refutation." Gcminiani's assertion, that " till the time of Rizzio melody was entirely rude and barbarous," is signally refuted by many ancient popular airs of France, Italy, and Germany. We may particulai-ly refer to the airs, Nos. 14 and 16, of the Plates given in G. F. Graham's " Essay on Musical Composition," Edinburgh, 1838. One of these, a most graceful French air of the 15th century, we give below ; the other is a ft-ee and elegant German melody of 1425.
i
±
m
^
F=8=f=
^
^^=H=^#|:^^^#=^
i
iN^
H^^
i^
'Ozt
See No. 14 of Plates of Essay on Musical Composition. (See p. 61 for a continuation of the subject.)
54
SCOTTISH SONGS.
MARY'S DREAM.
AlfDASTIi
Lakqketto.
ARRANGED BY T. M. MUDIE.
t£g
^^^,=p^-^pE^
3IS
a
SEE
^3^
IT
^Ey=
—T"*^^ 7"^
B3=J-5:^
^
-F^f^-
:t=t
The moon liad climb'd the high - est hill, Which ris - es o'er the
i^S
E^
-a-
r^rf==r5=f
-*-
3H
^^
i
Se
f
g=tp=i=J-
i^^^^ii^^
£t
5==S=«
3t3rrfc
source of Dee, And from tlie east - ern sum - mit shed Her sil - ver light on
A-
S^S
:i=
-si-
:t*=3dz=j
r^-r
-c^ -^
;^
EEf
S
Hit
^
3^
3^:
tower and tree ;
When Ma - ry laid her down to sleep, Her
MART S DREAM.
53
3=
rail. ^,^a tempo.
— i ^_l
^
2p.4-=j=::j=qp=i
S3
-• •-
thoughts on San - dy far at sea; Wlien soft and low, a voice was heard, Say,
SE
zn^i-
-^r
^-
colla voce.
a temno.
V. zi:
spE^:
;3^^
%
m^^^m
3=
rail.
t=r
-r^-
** Ma - ry, weep no more for me !
Ht-sj-
coHa 1)006.
i^i^i^^ifi
-f bI ;-•-" IS —-»-.-ar«
^-ftrTT — rMTT~"r
ess^
2*
^
She from her pillow gently raised
Her head, to ask who there might be, And saw young Sandy shivering stand,
With visage pale, and hollow e'e. ' 0 Mary, dear, cold is my clay ;
It lies beneath a stormy sea. Far, far, from thee, I sleep in death,
So, Mary, weep no more for me !
Three stormy nights and stormy days, We toss'd upon the raging main ;
And long we strove our bark to save, But all our striving was in vain.
Even then, when horror chiU'd my Wood, My heart was fill'd with love for thee :
The storm is past, and I at rest ; So, Mary, weep no more for me !
0 maiden dear, thyself prepare ;
We soon shall meet upon that shore. Where love is free from doubt and care.
And thou and I shall part no more ! " lioud crow'd the cock, the shadow fled :
No more of Sandy could she see. But soft the passing spirit said,
" Sweet Mary, weep no more for me ! "
" Maky's dream." It appears that this song was written in 1772, by Mr. John Lowe, a native of Kenmore, in Galloway. He was the eldest son of the Hon. Mr. Gordon of Kenmore's gardener, and was educated at the parish school of Kells. When fourteen years old he was apprenticed to a weaver named Heron, father of Robert Heron, author of the History of Scotland, and other works. He afterwards received instructions from Mr. Mackay, schoolmaster of Carsphairn. His abilities and good temper gained him friends, who enabled him, in 1771, to study Divinity in the University of Edinbiu-gh. He became tutor in the family of Mr. M'Ghie of Airds, where he composed a number of poetical pieces, many of which are lost. Mary, one of Mr. M'Ghie's daughters, had been engaged to Mr. Alexander Miller, a sm-geon, who was lost at sea. This sad event gave rise to the beautiful song of " Mary's dream." In 1773, Mr. Lowe went to America, where he was for some time tutor in the family of a brother of the celebrated George Washington. He next opened an Academy in Fredericksburgh, Virginia, which he abandoned on taking orders in the Church of England. Unfortunately, he then married a Virginian lady, whose gross misconduct broke his heart, and caused his untimely death, in 1798, in the forty-eighth year of his age. Mr. Cromek says, that "Mary's dream" was originally composed by Lowe in the Scottish dialect, but afterwards given in the English form in wMch it is generally known. Mr. C. K. Sharpe declares this older version to be a forgery by Allan Cunningham. See Museum Illustrations, vol. i. pp. 37, 115.
The air is evidently modern, and not Scottish in its character, except in a few passages, where the " Scottish snap" as Burney calls it, is introduced. Mr. Stenhouse states, that it was composed by J. G. C. Schetky, the eminent violoncello-player and composer, so long resident in Edinburgh ; this, however, is flatly contradicted by a member of Mr. Schetky's family, to whom the Editor referred the question.
56
SCOTTISH SONGS.
WELCOME ROYAL CHARLIE.
AIR, "THE a:JLD wife ATONT THE pmE.
AREANGED BT J. T. SUEENNE.
P = 72
Cox Spirito.
i^
^--^=?:
mf
'^^
3^
?EE
^F^
SEE
i:=MEs
5^ /
^feSSE
s
^
H^ — ^-
i±f=b
Strike up the bag - pipe's bold - est blast, Nor
:^=^-:
:^=!t
r?^
^:
SEjl
Wz
* — ^
^^^g-
fear a - gain some kit - tie east;^ Our Prince him - sel' has come at last; Thrice
' Untoward event.
WELCOME ROYAL CHARLIE.
57
eS
^
^s=iE^
?^3E?;
Lang, lang,
lang o
O ! ye've been lang o' com - in' ;
Lang, lang we look'tl, frae year to year — While gleams o' hope our hearts wad cheer — That some kind breeze wad blaw you here, — Our ain, our Royal Charlie.
But, 0 ! ye've been lang o' comin', &c.
Be blest the day that saw you land, And plant your banner on our strand ; We'll march where'er you may command — And fight for Royal Charlie.
But, 0 ! ye've been lang o' comin', &c.
Our Prince by right — our Prince by law ! We'll tak' you to your father's ha'. And crown you King amang them a' — Our leal — our Royal Cliarlie !
But, 0 ! ye've been lang o' comin', &o.
Auld Scotland, frae her mountains dun, Watch'd like a mithcr for her son ;^ Ye've come at last — our cause is won — Thrice welcome Royal Charlie !
But, 0 ! ye've been lang o' comin', &c.
" Welcome Rotai Chaklie." The words beginning, " When France had her assistance lent," which are given in the second volume of " The Scottish Minstrel," to the air of " The auld wife ayont the fire," appeared to us so prosaic and spiritless, that we rejected them. Fortunately, Captain Charles Gray, R.M., has been prevailed upon to write verses upon the same subject, to the same air, expressly for this work. We are happy to give his animated and characteristic song, which carries us back to the wild and sad days of the '45, and must at once supersede the other milk-and-water " Welcome." It appears from Jlr. Stenhouse's information, that the tune is found in Crockat's MS. Music-Book, written in 1709, under the name of "The old wife beyond the fire."
The song above noticed, " When France had her assistance lent," &c., is suggestive of some interesting historical facts. In 1744, France and England being at war, it seems to have occurred to the French ministry that a diver- sion in favour of their army in the Netherlands might be effected by an invasion of England. Accordingly, in that year Prince Charles Edward Stuart was called fi'oni Rome to Paris, where it was agreed that the French should land fifteen thousand soldiers in England under Marshal Saxe, Prince Charles having the chief command. But the French invading fleet was not only intercepted by an English fleet, but was dispersed by a tempest. At last, Charles rashly resolved to land in Scotland, with the sole support of his own name and private fortime, and the aid of the Jacobites who might join his standard on landing. He was dissuaded from the attempt, but persisted. On the 8th July 1 745 he set sail in a frigate, the Doutelle, accompanied by a French ship of war, the Elizabeth. An English ship of war, the Lion, met these two ships — engaged the Ehzabeth and disabled her. The Doutelle, having kept aloof in the action, made her escape and reached the Island of South Uist. There M'Donald of Bois- dale represented the madness of the enterprise so strongly to Charles, that the latter wished to give it up and return to France. But other counsel prevailed upon him to land at Moidart, on the 25th July 1745. There Cameron of Lochicl, after arguing in vain with Charles on the folly of the enterprise, at last joined liira with noble devoteduess, though against his own judgment. The future career of Charles we need not trace.
' " Lang watch'd for you ber darling son : " — This line w]l\ suit the accentuation of the tune better.
58
SCOTTISH SONGS.
QUEEN MARY'S LAMENT.
Andante
QUASI
Lento.
AKRANGED BT T. M. MUDIE.
3:
p1=[EJ=^=|=j=:j=i^=|E^=d=gp;
P
rrn r
-Pa-
=sti=
BSEE
^&z
:^=P=
mm
:^z
s-
f=f
-^
B^=
a==t
^^^
=f=t^^
I Bigh, and la - ment me in vain. These walls can but
m.
s
j^5~
^^
s
«i *
-& «-
r^
^—-8^
eis
fti
p
-# -^
S
-^ — g — »-
p
-©-
i>: — £^,
^
=i^=?c
-©-
=^
te=^
S
e - cho my moan ; A - las ! it in - creas - es my pain, To
EE
m
i^=f
^
-b-_s^
^^=t*
efi5
Efei
S=
122:
|
-iB^=r^- |
— T- |
-^^'^r-^-^ |
-m-^-^- |
||
|
think of the |
days that are |
'— SI J gone. ^ |
'hrough the grates of my |
pri - son I |
|
|
4J2 ^ |
1 1 1 |
1 1 H 1 |
|||
|
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".J?, .J... ^. . |
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QUEEN MAEY S LAMENT.
59
Ye roofs, where cold damps and dismay
With silence and solitude dwell- How comfortless passes the day, How sad tolls the evening bell !
The owls from the battlements cry.
Hollow winds seem to murmur around,- ' 0 Mary, prepare thee to die ! "
My blood it runs cold at the sound.
r=r=^F-FF
Unchanged by the rigours of fate, I burn with contempt for my foes ;
Though Fortune has clouded my state, This hope shall enlighten its close.
False woman ! in ages to come. Thy malice detested shall be;
And when we are cold in the tomb. The heart still shall sorrow for me.
" QcEEN Makt's Lajient." Hitherto, in collections of Scottish songs and melodies, the author of these words and the author of the music have been said to be n-nhiiotcn. But even if the author of the words was unknown to the Editors of these collections, that did not justify them in altering the lines and transposing the stanzas of the original, so as to make a bad song out of a good one. The authoress of the words, (and we fully belieTe of the music also,) was Mrs. John Hunter, wife of the celebrated John Hunter, Surgeon, London — the youngest child of John Hunter of Kilbride, in the County of Lanark, Scotland, and brother of Dr. William Hunter, who built, at his own cost, the Anatomical Theatre and Museum in Great Windmill Street, London. Mrs. John Hunter was a daughter of Mr. Home, Surgeon to Burgoyne's regiment of lighthorse. Her poetical talents are shown in her Poems, published in 1802, T. Payne, London. In that volume we find her own version of "I sigh and lament me in vain ; " besides other songs set to music by Haydn in his inimitable canzonets ; and " The Spirit's song," and " 0 tuneful voice," also set to music by Haydn — two of the finest of his vocal compositions. His music to " 0 tuneful voice," afterwards served as a model to Beethoven for his beautiful " Adelaida." Haydn, when in London, in 1791 and 1793, was a frequent and honoured guest in John Hunter's house.
60
SCOTTISH SONGS.
0 WHA'S AT THE WINDOW, WHA, WHA ?
AEBANGED BY FINLAT DUN.
* = 132
MODEBATO
E
Semplioe,
wha, wha ? O wha's at the win - dow,
wha, wha? Wha but
m
>
-«^
-r-
• — i-
it
3e^5;
• — •-
w
=f±^l=l
:^
K—.0^^ez
?
-P-
:t^=^
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J^ — ^ — ^-
Iff:
blythe Jam - ie Glen, He's come sax miles and ten, To tak' bon - nie Jean - ie a
m
S=E
^
=^t=-Js:
ei^
^ !
• a-
?-^^
=f^
1^=1^=^
a£^?:
S
?=^=^
a - wa.
To tak' bon - nie Jean - ie
I-
^p^^:^
ea
-» • -^-
S
^^&'
^-
0 wha's at the window, wha, wha ?
61
^
*
^
j^^^
=p^
ei=F=r— fc=?=
-k-
/
lit,:
He lias plighted his troth, and a', and a', Leal love to gi'e, and a', and a' ;
And sae has she dune,
By a' that's abune, For he lo'es her, she lo'es him, 'bone a', 'bune a', He lo'es her she lo'es him, 'bune a'.
Bridal maidens are braw, braw, Bridal maidens are braw, braw;
But the bride's modest e'e,
And warm cheek are to me, 'Bune pearUns and brooches, and a', and a', 'Bune pearlins and brooches, and a'.
There's mirth on the gi'een, in the ha', the ha'. There's mirtli on the green, in the ha', the ha'. There's laughing, there's quaffing. There's jesting, there's daffing, And the bride's father's blythest of a', of a', And the bride's father's blythest of a'.
Its no' that she's Jamie's ava, ava. Its no' that she's Jamie's ava, ava,
That my heart is sae eerie
When a' the lave's cheerie, But its just that she'll aye be awa', awa'. Its just that she'll aye be awa'.
" 0 wha's at the window, wha, wha ? " This song and air are here republished by the permission of Mr. Joseph M'Fadyen, Musicseller, Glasgow. The words were written by Mr. Alexander Carlile of Paisley ; the air is by the late Mr. R. A. Smith. The late Allan Cunningham also wrote words to the same air. In the sixteenth century, and early In the seventeenth, a icindoic song of this kind seems to have been very popular in England. Some verses of it are simg in three of Beaumont and Fletcher's Plays ; in " The Knight of the Burning Pestle," m " The Woman's Prize," and in " Jlonsieur Thomas." See .also a parody in Wedderburne's "Godly and Spiritual Songs," 1590.
In Jlr. Prior's edition of the works of Oliver Goldsmith, (London, Murray, 1837,) we find an "Essay on the different Schools of Music," upon which it is necessary to make some animadversions, as it contains most erroneous statements with regard to the music of Scotland. The Essay, indeed, as a whole, displays so much ignorance of the subject it professes to discuss, that, but for the deserved high reputation of the author in other respects, we would have passed it over as altogether unworthy of comment. After stating that the ItaUan school was founded by Pergolese, (!) and that of France by LuUi, Goldsmith says : — " The English school was first planned by Purcell. He attempted to unite the ItaUan manner that prevailed in his time with the ancient Celtic carol and the Scotch ballad, which probably had also its origin in Italy ; for some of the Scotch ballads, ' The broom of CowdenknowB,' for instance, are still ascribed to David Rizzio." — Vol. i. p. 175. In one of his Notes, Goldsmith wi-ites : — " It is the opinion of the melodious Geminiani, that we have in the dominions of Great Britain no original music except the Irish ; the Scotch and English being originally borrowed from the Italians. And that his opinion in this respect is just, (for I would not be swayed merely by authorities,) it is very reasonable to suppose ; first, from the conformity between the Scotch and ancient Italian music* They who compare the old French vaudevilles brought from Italy by Rinuccini, with those pieces ascribed to David Rizzio, who was pretty nearly conteniporai-y with him, will find a strong resemblance, notwithstanding the opposite characters of the two nations which have pre- served these pieces. When I would have them compared, I mean I would have their bases compared, by which the similitude may be most exactly seen. Secondly, it is reasonable, from the ancient music of the Scotch, which is still preserved in the Highlands, and which bears no resemblance at all to the music of the Low country. The Highland tunes are sung to Irish words, and flow entirely in the Irish manner. On the other hand, the Lowland music is always sung to English words."
As to the opinion of "the melodious Geminiani," (whose music, by the way, is very dry and unmelodious,) it is, like every other opinion, to be valued only so far as it is supported by evidence. We, therefore, point to the Collec- tions of Martini, Paolucci, and Chorou; in which are preserved specimens of ancient and modern Italian music — ecclesiastical and secular ; in none of which can be found one single melody bearing the slightest resemblance to Scottish music. As to Rinuccini, who is said to have brought the "old French vaudevilles out of italt/," (!) the mention of him is evidently a mere subtex'fugc, for it is not jiretended that his airs have any Scottish character. It is in their bases (!) that we are to seek for the pretended resemblance ! This is almost too absurd for a serious answer. Every musician knows, that to any given simple bass m.ay be written an air in the Italian or the Scottish, in the military or tlie pastoral styles ; and every series of variations upon a given theme and bass by a skilful composer will afford examples of what may be done in this way. Goldsmith's absurdities regarding Purcell's style, as having been compounded of the Italian manner and the ancient Celtic carol and the Scotch ballad, we leave to be dealt with hj Purcell's countrymen as they think proper. (See p. 71 for a continuation of the subject.)
* This subject bas been already tUscussed, pjige 99 of the First Volume of Wood's SoDg^ of Scotland. — Ed.
62
SCOTTISH SONGS.
GET UP AND BAR THE DOOE.
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fell a - bout the Mart' - mas time, And a gay time it was thcD, O ! When
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our gude - wife had puddings to mal;', And she boil'd them
the
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pan, O !
The wind blew cauld frae
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GET UP AND BAR THE DOOK.
63
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north to south, And blew in - to the
6oor, O ! Quoth cur gudeman to
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" My hand is in my husswyfskip,^ Gudeman, as ye may see, 0 ! An it should na be barr'd this hundred year, It's no be barr'd for me, 0 ! "
They made a paction 'tween them twa, They made it firm and sure, 0 !
Whaever spak the foremost word Should rise and bar the door, 0 !
Then by there came twa gentlemen.
At twelve o'clock at night, 0 I And they could neither see house nor ha',
Nor coal nor candle light, 0 !
Now, whether is this a rich man's house,
Or whether is it a poor, 0 ? But never a word wad ane o' them speak,
For barring o' the door, 0 !
And first they ate the white puddings And then they ate the black, 0 !
1 Household affairs ; houseivifeship.
Tho' muokle' thought the gudewife to hersel'. Yet ne'er a word she spak', 0 !
Then said the ane unto the other —
" Here, man, tak' ye my knife, 0 !
Do ye tak' aff the auld man's beard,
And I'll kiss the gudewife, 0 ! "
" But there's nae water in the house. And what shall we do then, 0?"
" "What ails ye at the puddin' broo' That boils into the pan, 0 ? "
0 up then started our gudeman. And an angry man was he, 0 ! " Will ye kiss my wife before my een. And scaud me wi' pudding bree, 0 ? "
Then up and started our gudewife, Gied three skips on the floor, 0 ! " Gudeman, ye've spoken the foremost word, Get up and bar the door, 0 !"
Mucb. ^ Juice or soup.
" Get cp and bar the boob,." " This exceedingly humorous Scottish ballad was recovered by old David Herd, and inserted in his Collection, vol. ii. p. 359, anno 1776. It appears to be an amplification of the fine old song called ' Johnie Blunt,' which will be found in the fourth volume of the Museum, p. 376, song 365. It is a curious circumstance that this ballad furnished Prince Hoare with the incidents of his principal scene in his musical enter- tainment of ' No Song no Supper,' acted at Drury-lane, London, 1 70(r, (the music by Storace,) and since, at all the theatres of the United Kingdom, with great success. It still continues a favourite on the acting list. Mr. Hoare was also indebted to another old Scottish ballad for several other material incidents in the same piece, namely, 'The Freirs of Berwick,' written by Dunbar prior to the year 1568, as it is inserted in the Bannatyne Manuscript, in the Library of the Faculty of [Advocates] Edinburgh, of that date, and which Allan Ramsay afterwards modernized, in a poem called ' The Monk and the Miller's Wife.' " See Museum Illustrations, vol. iii. p. 292.
64
SCOTTISH SONGS.
AND ARE YE SURE THE NEWS IS TRUE?
Aia, " there's NAE luck ABOtlT THE HOUSE."
AURAJJGED EY J. T. SURENNE.
P = 96
MODERATO ED
Animato.
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news is true? And are ye sure he's weel? Is this a time to think o' wark? Ye
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jauds, fling bye your wheel. I3 this a time to think o' "wark, When Co - Un"s at the
door? Rax' me my cloak, I'll to the quay. And see him come a - shore.
AND ARE YE SURE THE NEWS IS a?RUE 1
65
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For there's nae luck a - bout the house, There's nae luck at a'; There's lit - tie plea -sure
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in the house. When our gudeman^s a - \va'.
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And gi'e to me my bigonet,'
My bishops' safdn gown, For I maun tell the bailie's wife
That Colin's come to town. My turkey slippers maun gae on,
My hose o' pearl blue ; 'Tis a' to please my ain gudeman,
For he's baitli leal and true. For there's nae luck, &c.
Rise up and mak' a clean fireside ;
Put on the muckle pot ; Qi'e little Kate her button gown,
And Jock his Svmday coat : And mak' then' shoon as black as slaes,
Their hose as white as snaw ; Its a' to please my ain gudeman,
For he's been lang awa'.
For there's nae luck, &c.
There's twa fat hens upon the bauk.
They've fed this month and mair ; Mak' haste and thraw their necks about,
That Colin weel may fare ; And spread the table neat and clean,
Gar^ ilka thing look braw; For wha can tell how Colin fared,
When he was far awa'.
For there's nae luck, &c.
Sae true his heart, sae smooth his speech.
His breath like caller air ; His very foot has music in't,
As he comes up the stair. And will I see his face again ?
And will I hear him speak ? I'm downright dizzy wi' the thought —
In troth, I'm like to greet.* For there's nae luck, &c.
The cauld blasts o' the winter wind,
That thirled through my heart, They're a' blawn by, I ha'e him safe,
Till death we'll never part : But what puts parting in my head ?
It may be far awa' ; The present moment is our ain,
The neist we never saw.
For there's nae luck, &c.
Since Colin's weel, I'm weel content,
I ha'e nae mair to crave ; Could I but live to mak' him blest,
I'm blest aboon the lave :^ And will I see his face again ?
And will I hear him speak ? I'm downright dizzy wi' the thought —
In troth, I'm like to greet. For there's nae luck, &c.
1 stretch.
2 A linen cap, or coif.
3 Make.
* To shed tears.
5 Remainder.
"There's nae luck about the house." Although this air is certainly a modern production, the author of it is not known. There has been much disputation regarding the authorship of the song ; opinions are divided between William Julius Mickle, a native of Langholm, well-known as the translator of the Lusiad, and Jean Adams, a teacher of a day-school at Crawford's-dyke, near Greenock. See Appendix for a further consideration of the question.
No. XV. E
66
SCOTTISH SONGS.
MY NANNIE'S AWA'.
Andante Innocente.
ARRANGED BY T. M. MUOIB.
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poco rail.
Now
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in her green man -tie blythe Na-ture ar - rays, And lis - tens the lambkins that
bleat ower the braes, While birds war - ble welcome in
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il - ka green sbaw ; But to
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me its de - light - less, my Nannie's a - wa'. But to
me its de - light - less, my
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colla voce.
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MY NANNIE S AWA .
67
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Nannie's a - wa'.
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The snaw-drap and primrose our woodlands adorn, And violets bathe in the weet 0' the morn ; They pain my sad bosom, sae sweetly they blaw ! They mind me 0' Nannie — and Nannie's awa'.
Thou laverock, that springs irae the dews of the lawn. The shepherd to wai-n of the grey-breaking dawn. And thou mellow mavis, that hails the niglit-fa'; Give over for pity — my Nannie's awa'.
Come, autumn, sae pensive, in yellow and grey, And soothe me wi' tidings 0' Nature's decay : The dark, dreary winter, and wild-driving snaw, Alane can delight me — my Nannie's awa'.
"My Naknie's awa'." Upon this song Captain Charles Gray, R.M., in his ''Cursory Remarks on Scottish Song," gives the following Note. Before quoting it, we might perhaps venture to suggest, that Burns' admiration of Clarinda may find its remoter parallel in that of Petrarca, early in the fourteenth century, for the lady whom he has rendered so celebrated, in verse and prose, imder the name of Laura. Petrarca, in his "Epistle to Posterity," calls his regard for Laura, " veementissimo, ma unico ed onesto." To say, that a very warm and sincere friend- ship cannot innocently subsist between a married woman and an unmarried man, is not only to contradict daily experience, but to utter a licentious libel upon human nature. Were such the case, many of the strongest heart- ties between friends and relatives must be at once torn asunder, never to reunite in this world. *
" 'My Nannie's awa',' is one of the sweetest pastoral songs that Burns ever wrote. He sent it to Mr. Thomson in December 1794, to be united to the old melody of, ' There'll never be peace till Jamie come hame.' In this song the Bard laments the absence of Mrs. M'Lehose, (Clarinda,) who had left Scotland to join her husband in the West Indies, in February 1792. We may be pardoned, perhaps, for saying a word or two about the lady whose beauty and accomplishments had so captivated our Bard, and inspired him with this and some others of his most beautiful love-songs. Burns, having published the second edition of his poems in 1787, was just about to leave Edinburgh when he was introduced to Clarinda. One of our Poet's biographers alleges, that he was very tolerant as to the personal charms of his heroines ; but as to the wit, beauty, and powers of conversation of Clarinda, there can be no doubt. She seems to have completely fascinated him at the very first interview. That Mrs. M'Lehose was no ordinary person is proved by her letters, now printed along with those of Burns ; and it is saying much for her, that they do not suffer ii-om being placed in juxtaposition with those of the Bard. This romantic attachment between the poet and poetess was not of very long duration ; but while it lasted, as many letters passed between them as form a goodly sized octavo volume! The germ of 'Nannie's awa" is to be found in one of Clarinda's letters, (see Correspondence, &c., p. 185,) written thirty-five days after they became acquainted. They were about to part, and she says : — ' You'll hardly write me once a month, and other objects will weaken youi' affection for Clarinda : yet I cannot believe so. Oh .' let the scenes of Nature remind you of Clarinda ! In winter, remember the dark shades of her fate; in summer, the warmth, the cordial warmth of her friendship ; in avtumn, her glowing wishes to bestow plenty on all ; and let spring animate you with hopes that your poor friend may yet live to surmount the tcintry blast of life, and rerir.e to taste a spring-time of happiness !' This passage, so beautifully descriptive, in the letter of his fair correspondent, was not overlooked hy Burns. He says, in reply :— ' There is one fine passage in your last charming letter — Thomson nor Shenstone never exceeded it, nor often came up to it. I shall certainly steal it and set it in some future production, and get immortal fame by it. 'Tis where you bid the scenes of Nature remind me of Clarinda.' The poet was as good as his word. Some months after Clarinda had left this country, Burns, reverting to the passage we have quoted from her letter, made it his own by stamping it in immortal verse, bewailing the absence of Clarinda in a strain of rural imagery that has seldom or never been surpassed."
The air to which we have here united the words, we believe to be modern ; yet we have not been able to trace it to any composer. Like many other airs, it probably owes its present form to several individuals. It appears to have passed orally from one singer to another, until Mr. George Croall, Musicseller, Edinburgh, rescued it a few years ago from threatened oblivion.
68
SCOTTISH SONGS.
JOCK 0' HAZELDEAN.
ARRANGED BY J. T. SUtiij^i^.
fe^»;gJ^^i^|^^^g^g^E^^gg=gpg^|
weep ye by the tide, la - dye ? Why weep ye by the
tide?
I'll wed ye to my
p:*|E^^
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youngest son, And ye sail be his bride ;
And ye sail be his bride, ladye, Sae
2^
aasJ^ES
come - ly to be seen : " — But aye she loot the tears down fa', For Jock o' Ha - zel -
if^Na
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m
m
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colla voce.
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JOCK 0 HAZELDEAN.
69
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dean.
a tempo.
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s
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SWP
" Now let this wilful grief be done,
And dry that cheek so pale : Young Frank is chief of Errington,
And lord of Langley dale ; His step is first in peaceful ha',
His sword in battle keen : " — But aye she loot the tears down fa',
For Jock o' Hazeldean.
" A chain o' gold ye sail not lack,
Nor braid to bind your hair. Nor mettled hound, nor managed hawk,
Nor palfrey fresh and fair ; And you, the foremost o' them a'.
Shall ride our forest queen :" — But aye she loot the tears down fa',
For Jock o' Hazeldean.
The kirk was deck'd at morning-tide.
The tapers glimmer'd fair ; The priest and bridegroom wait the bride,
And dame and knight were there ; They sought her baith by bower and ha' ;
The ladye was not seen ! — She's o'er the Border and awa'
Wi' Jock o' Hazeldean !
" Jock o' Hazeldean." There is mention made by some writers of an old ballad called " Jock o' Hazelgreen," but without documentary authority. It appears that Mr. Thomas Pringle gave, in Constable's Magazine, the first stanza of the present song, as that of an old ballad which he had heard his mother sing ; and that Sir Walter Scott, upon inquii-y, adopted that stanza as old, and added to it those that now make up his very popular song of "Jock o' Hazeldean," which he wrote for the first volume of Jlr. Alexander Campbell's work, named " Albyn's Anthology." The melody, in an older and more Scottish form, occurs in the Lej'den MS., No. 50, under the name of " The bony brow;" but we give the version of the air now more generally current.' The melody published in Book Second of Jo. Playford's " Choice Ayres," London, 1679, appears to have been that sung to an imitation of a Scottish song by Thomas D'Urfey, in his comedy of "The Fond Husband, or the Plotting Sisters," acted in 1676; and closely resembles the air given in the Leyden MS. Mr. Stenhouse, in his Note upon " The glancing of her apron," No. 445 of Johnson's Museum, says : — " With regard to the tune to which the words were originally adapted, it is evidently a florid set of the old simple air of ' Willie and Annet,' which has lately been published in Albyn's Anthology, under the new title of ' Jock o' Hazledean,' a ballad written by Sir Walter Scott."
Thomas Moore, in the Preface to the fifth volume of his Works collected by himself, London, 1841, remarks — that, " with the signal exception of Milton, there is not to be found, among all the eminent poets of England, a single musician." — p. v. In the same Preface he touches, gently, upon Sir Walter Scott's deficiency of musical ear. The Editor of tliis work was personally acquainted with Sir Walter Scott, and had his own good-humoured confession that he was totally destitute of an ear for music. Sir Walter himself, in his " Autobiography," after speaking of his ineifectual attempts at sketching or drawing landscapes, says : — " With music it was even worse than with painting. My mother was anxious we should at least learn psalmody ; but the incurable defects of my voice and ear soon drove my teacher to despair.^ It is only by long practice that I have acquired the power of selecting or distinguishing melodies ; and although now few things delight or affect me more than a simple tune sung with feeling, yet I am sensible that even this pitch of musical taste has only been gained by attention and habit, and as it were by my feeling of the words being associated with the tune ; although my friend Dr. Clarke, and other musical composers, have sometimes been able to make a happy union between their music and my poetry." See Lockhart's Life of Scott, vol. i. pp. 73, 74.
1 A copy of that Leyden MS. was deposited by the Editor in the Library of the Faculty of Advocates on 26th November ]S47.
^ That teacher may have been ignorant and unskilful, as too many were in Scott's early days. They required to go to school themselvCB. — En
70
SCOTTISH SONGS.
HE'S O'ER THE HILLS THAT I LO'E WEEL.
'= 138
MODEEATO.
AURANGEl) Bit T. M. MUDIE.
M:
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He's
o'er the hills that I lo'e weel : He's o'er the hills we
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daur - na name; He's o'er the hills a - yont 0umblane, Wha soon will get his
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wel - come hame.
My
fa - ther's gane to
fight for him, My
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he's o'er the hills that I lo'b weel.
71
p^^^
m
&
bri - tber3 win - na bide at hame, My mi - ther greets and prajs for them, And
m
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'deed she thinks they're no' to blame. Concluding Symphony.
^^^]^^
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[The succeeding verses begin with the second part of the melody.]
The Wliigs may scoff, the Whigs may jeer, But, ah ! that love maun be sincere Which still keeps true whate'er betide, An' for his sake leaves a' beside. He's o'er the hills, &c.
His right these hills, his right these plains ; O'er Highland hearts secure he reigns ; What lads e'er did, our lads will do; Were I a lad, I'd follow him too. He's o'er the hills, &c.
Sae noble a look, sae princely an air, Sae gallant and bold, sae young and sae fair ; Oh ! did you but see him, ye'd do as we've done ; Hear him but ance, to his standard you'll run. He's o'er the liills, &c.
" He's o'er the hills that I lo'e weel." A modern Jacobite song — very popular of late years. Neither the author of the words nor the author of the music is known.
We now resume the Note, p. 61, supra. When Goldsmith, or rather Geminiani, asserts, that there is " in the dominion of Great Britain no original music except the Irish," the Welsh music is quite left out of view. As to the Scottish " Highland tunes flowing entirely in the Irish manner," we refer to Edward Bunting's and Thomas Moore's Collections of Irish Melodies for disproof of the assertion. In short, it is evident that Goldsmith chose to write an Essay upon a subject of which he was profoundly ignorant. That talented and accomplished Irishman, Thomas Moore, speaks thus of the antiquity of Irish melodies : — " Though much has been said of the antiquity of our music, it is certain that our finest and most popular airs are modern ; and perhaps we may look no farther than the last disgraceful century for the origin of most of those wild and melancholy strains, which were at once the offspring and solace of grief, and which were applied to the mind, as music was formerly to the body, ' decantare loca dolentia.' Mr. Pinkerton' is of opinion, that not one of the Scotch popular airs is as old as the middle of the sixteenth century ; and although musical antiquaries refer us, for some of our melodies, to so early a period as the fifth century, I am persuaded that there are few, of a citilised description, (and by this I mean to exclude all the Bavage ' Ceanans,' ' Cries,' &c.,^) which can claim quite so ancient a date as Mr. Pinkerton allows to the Scotch." (For a continuation of this subject, see p. 73.)
1 Dissertation prefixed to the Second volume of his Scottish Ballads.
2 Of which some genuine specimens may be found at the end of Mr. Walker's work upon Irish Bards, splendid volume by too many of theee barbarous rhapsodies.
Mr. Bunting has disfigured his last
72
SCOTTISH SONGS.
KELVIN GROVE
AKRANGED BY J. T. SUKENNE.
^ = 80
Andante Pastorale.
i-fe
:S
Sfe
. — *3 ■ ^^3
te^Nj
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Let us haste to Kel - vin grove, bon - nie las - sie, O, Through its
t
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itpz
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I I
-e-
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rtl
f^
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ii
y-
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pride, Paints the hoi - low din - gle side, AVhere the midnight fai - ries glide, bon - nie
KELVIN GKOVE.
73
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Let us wander by the mill, bonnie lassie, 0, To the cove beside the rill, bonnie lassie, 0,
Where the glens rebound the call,
Of the roaring waters' fall, Through the mountain's rocky hall, bonnie lassie, 0.
0 Kelvin banks are fair, bonnie lassie, 0, When in summer we are there, bonnie lassie, 0, There, the May-pink's crimson plume, Throws a soft, but sweet perfume. Round the yellow banks of broom, bonnie lassie, 0.
Though I dare not call thee mine, bonnie lassie, 0, As the smile of fortune's thine, bonnie lassie, 0,
Tet with fortune on my side,
I could stay thy fiither's pride. And win thee for my bride, bonnie lassie, 0.
But the frowns of fortime lower, bonnie lassie, 0, On thy lover at this hour, bonnie lassie, 0, Ere yon golden orb of day Wake the warblers on the spray, From this land I must away, bonnie lassie, 0.
Then farewell to Kelvin grove, bonnie lassie, 0, And adieu to all I love, bonnie lassie, 0,
To the river winding clear.
To the fragrant scented brier. Even to thee of all most dear, bonnie lassie, 0.
When upon a foreign shore, bonnie lassie, 0, Should I fall midst battle's roar, bonnie lassie, 0,
Then, Helen ! shouldst thou hear
Of thy lover on his bier, To his memory shed a tear, bonnie lassie, 0.
" Kelvin Grove." It appears that this highly popular song was erroneously ascribed to Mr. John Sim in " The Harp of Renfrewsliire," in which it was first published, but was soon after claimed by Mr. Thomas Lyle, Surgeon, Glasgow, who proved his title to it in a satisfactory manner. A Note on the verses, in Messrs. Blackie's " Book of Scottish Song," informs us, that " Kelvin Grove, a pictm-esque and richly wooded dell, through wliich the river Kelvin flows, lies at a very short distance to the north-west of Glasgow, and will in all probability soon be com- prehended within the wide-spreading boundaries of the city itself. At one part of it, (North Woodside,) is an old well, called the Pear-Tree-Well, from a pear-tree which formerly grew over it. This used to be, and still is to some extent, a favourite place of resort for young parties from the city on summer afternoons." Mr. Lyle's own version of the song is here given, from pages 228, 229, of a Collection of Ballads and Songs, published by him in 1827. It has one stanza more than in " The Harp of Renfi-ewshire," and in other respects differs from the copy in that work. The air appeared in the second volume of " The Scottish Minstrel," where it is called " Kelvin Water." Its original name was, " 0 the shearin's no for you," which was the first line of a song now deservedly forgotten.
We now resume Mr. Moore's remarks, p. 71, supra. "But music is not the only subject on which our taste for antiquity is rather unreasonably indulged; and, however heretical it may be to dissent from these romantic speculations, I cannot help thinking that it is possible to love our country very zealously, and to feel deeply interested in her honour and happiness, without believing that Irish was the language spoken in Paradise ; • that our ancestors were kind enough to take the trouble of polishing the Greeks ; - or that Abaris, the Hyperborean, was a native of the North of Ireland.^ By some of these archaiologists it has been imagined that the Irish were early acquainted with counterpoint; and they endeavour to support this conjectiu'e by a well-known passage in Giraldus, where he dilates, with such elaborate praise, upon the beauties of our national minstrelsy. But the terms of this eulogy are too vague, too deficient in technical accuracy, to prove that even Giraldus himself knew anything of the artifice of counterpoint. There are many expressions in the Greek and Latin writers which might be cited, with much more plausibility, to prove that they understood the arrangement of music in parts ; yet I believe it is conceded in general by the learned, that however grand and pathetic the melody of the ancients may have been, it was reserved for the ingenuity of modern science to transmit ' the light of song' through the variegat- ing prism of 'harmony.'" — See Irish Melodies, No. III. A Prefatory Letter to the Marchioness Dowager of D
Dublin, January, 1810. (See p. 83 for the conclusion of this subject.)
» See Advertisement to the Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Dublin. In the Preface to "Wm. Shaw's Gaelic and English Dictionary, 4to, 1780, it is quite graTely asserted that Gaelic was the language originally spoken by Adam and Eve in Paradise. — Ed. - O'Halloran, voL L part i. chap. 6. 3 id. ib. chap. 7.
74
SCOTTISH SONGS.
LORD RONALD.
P = 72
Andauie.
AltRANOED BY T. M. MDDIE.
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LORD RONALD.
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What got ye frae your sweetheart, Lord Ronald, my son ? What got ye frae your sweetheart, Lord Ronald, my son ? I ha'e got deadly poison, mother, make my -bed soon, For life is a burden that soon I'll lay down.
" LoKD Ronald, jit son." The two stanzas of the ancient ballad, sent by Burns to Johnson's Museum, together with the simple and pathetic melody, were recovered by Burns in Ayrshire. Sir Walter Scott, in his " Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border," gives six stanzas of the ballad as sung in Ettrick Forest, under the title of " Lord Randal." We refer to Sir Walter's remarks upon the ballad, and his reasons for preferring the name " Randal" to " Ronald." Sir Walter Scott refers to " a very simil.ar song, in which, apparently to excite greater interest in the nursery, the handsome young hxmter is exchanged for a little child, poisoned by a false stepmother." This nursery song is called "The croodlin' doo," i.e., "The cooing dove." Buchan, in his "Ballads of the North," gives a similar song, called " Willy Doo." In Jamieson's " Illustrations of Northern Antiquities," is found a fragment of a Suffolk version of the ballad, and also a translation of a German ballad, called " Grossmutter Schlangenkoechin," i.e., "Grandmother Adder-cook." Mr. Kinloch, in his "Ancient Scottish Ballads," 1827, gives another version of ten stanzas, under the name of " Lord Donald." Burns [Kdiques] observes, that " this air, a very favourite one in Ayrshire, is evidently the original of Lochaber. In this manner, most of our finest more modern airs have had their origin. Some early minstrel, or musical shepherd, composed the simple original air; which being picked up by the more learned musician, took the improved form it bears." We demur to Burns' theory of " musical shepherds," and " improved form of the simple original air by more learned musicians." But we have no reason to doubt Burns' opinion that the air of " Lord Ronald" was the original of " Lochaber." In Dr. John Leyden's MS. Lyra-Viol Book, formerly referred to in this work, p. 25, et passim, we find, (No. 2,) an air called " King James' March to irland." It differs considerably from the air of " Lord Ronald," and from the more modern air of " Lochaber ; " but still resembles both so strongly as to point to the same family origin. But the air of "Lord Ronald" consists of ohc strain, as happens in most of our oldest Scottish melodies; while "Lochaber," and "King James' March to /iland," consist each of tioo strains ; thus throwing back the greater probability of antiquity upon "Lord Ronald." James H. landed at Kinsale in Ireland, on 12th March 1689. The Battle of the Boyne took place on 30th June 1690, when James was defeated, and fled back to France. As to the name of " Limerick's Lamentation," given by the Irish to a modified version of the air of "Lord Ronald," the title may refer to the capitulation of Limerick to William's forces, soon after the Boyne battle ; or to the taking of Limerick, in 1 649, by Cromwell's troops, aided by pestilence and treachery. See Appendix for Sir AValter Scott's version of the ballad.
"76
SCOTTISH SONGS.
FAREWELL TO LOCHABER.
ABEAUGED BY T. M. MCDIE.
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Though hurricanes rise, though rise every wind, No tempest can equal the storm in my mind ; Though loudest of thunders on louder waves roar, There's naething like leavin' my love on the shore. To leave thee behind me my heart is sair pain'd ; But by ease that's inglorious no fame can be gain'd; And beauty and love's the reward of the brave ; And I maun deserve it before I can crave.
Then glory, my Jeanie, maun plead my excuse ; Since honour commands me, how can I refuse ? Without it, I ne'er can have merit for thee ; And losing thy favour I'd better not be. I gae then, my lass, to win honour and fame ; And if I should chance to come glorious hame, I'll bring a heart to thee with love running o'er, And then I'll leave thee and Lochaber no more.
"LocHAEEK NO MOKE." In the preceding Note upon "Lord Ronald," we have discussed the derivation of "Lochaber" from that tune, or from "King James' March to icland," as in the Leyden MS. The received air of "Lochaber" is evidently of modern construction, because in it the fourth and the major .seventh of the tonic (or key-note) are freely employed. The verses here given to the air of "Lochaber" were written by Allan Eamsay. A lady still living, in wliose father's house at Edinburgli Robert Burns was a frequent and honoured guest, one evening played the tune of " Lochaber," on the harpsichord, to Burns. He listened to it attentively, and then exclaimed, with tears in his eyes, " Oh, that's a fine tune for a broken heart !" The lady in question stood so high in Bums' estimation, that he offered to write to her a journal of his intended tour in the Highlands of Scotland. A trifling circumstance prevented him from completing his offer of so valuable a communication.
78
SCOTTISH SONGS.
ROY'S WIFE OF ALDIVALLOCH.
AKRAKGED BY G. P. GRAHAM.
'= 100
Andante.
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Roy's wife of Al - di - val - locli.
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Roy's wife of Al - di - valloch, Wat ye how slie clieated me, A3 I cam' o'er the braes o' Balloeh ?
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She vow'd, she swore she wad be mine; She said slie lo'ed me best of onie; But
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O the fickle, faithlessquean, She's ta'en the carle' an' left her Johnnie ! Roy's wife of Al -di- valloch,
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BOY S WIFE OF ALDIVALLOCH.
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0, she wis a cantie- que;m,
Weel could she dance the Highland walioch ; How happy I, had she been mine,
Or I been Roy of Aldivalloch. Roy's wife, &c.
' An old man.
PW
Her hair sae fair, her een sae clear. Her wee bit mou' sae sweet and bonnie ;
To me she ever will be dear. Though she's for ever left her Johnnie. Roy's wife, &c.
2 Merrv.
" Roy's wife op Alcivalloch." This song was wi'itten by Mrs. Grant of Carron, afterwards Mrs. Dr. Murray of Bath. Burns also wrote Terses for the same air, beginning, " Canst thou leave me thus, my Katy ?" — but the lady's verses have always held their ground to this day. David Laing, Esq., in his Additional Illustrations to Johnson's Museum, (vol. iv. pp. 368, 369,) says :—" Through the obliging inquiries of John P. Grant, Esq., (son of the late Mrs. Grant of Laggan,) I have since learned the following particulars respecting this lady. Her maiden name was Grant; and she was born near Aberlour, on the banks of the river Spey, about the year 1745. She was twice married, first to her cousin, Mr. Grant of Carron, near Elchies, on the river Spey, about the year 1763 ; and, secondly, to a physician in Bath, whose name is stated to have been Brown, not Murray. She died at Bath sometime about 1814, and is not known to have written any other song than 'Roy's Wife.'" Mr. Laing is satisfied, from the authority of Mr. George Thomson and Mr. Cromek, that the lady's second husband was Dr. Murray of Bath. The tune is old, and was called " The Ruffian's Rant ; " a name happily superseded by " Roy's Wife." We have no doubt that it is a Highland air. In several passages, modern hnpi'ocers of our old melodies have, as usual, introduced flourishes that are incompatible with the simple character of this air. We have rejected these flourishes, as we shall always do, whenever we find them disfiguring our national Scottish airs. From the earlier part of the last century, the process of altering and pretended impruting of these airs, seems to have gone on, up to a certain point, when it was found necessary to stop short in disguising them. The rage for embellish- ment as applied to these simple melodies, may be traced to the time when they became so fashionable in England, and got into the hands of public singers in London. For some hints on this subject, see Note, p. 33, of this volume. Italian _/iorJ(Mre, of a particular kind, were not less liberally applied in those days to every melody than they have been of late years, with a change of form. National airs could not escape the contagion. The celebrated Catalani, on one of her first appearances in Edinburgh, about forty years ago, sang "Roy's wife of Aldivalloch," with great applause. How she sang it we have no record ; but we have no doubt that the powers of her magnificent voice were not subdued for the occasion. About twenty-seven years ago, we became personally acquainted with Catalani, and conversed with her regarding her own art. We were struck with the child-like playfalness and simplicity of character in the great singer and actress. She bitterly lamented her want of early education ; and added, (in her own language,) "I have talents that never were fully developed !"
80
SCOTTISH SONGS.
0, WILLIE BREW'D A PECK 0' MAUT.
Allegro moderato.
AERAJ5GED BY FINLAT DUN.
Allegro / jt "?! -- "j*" "P" "t^ I |
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O, Wil - lie brew'd a peck o' maut, And Rob and Al - Ian
P e legato.
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cres. ed animato.
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cam' to prie ;^ Three blyther lads, that lee-lang^ night, Ye wad - na fand in
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Christ - en - die.
AYe are na fou', we're no tiiat fou', But just a wee drap
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0, WILLIE BREW D A PECK 0 MAUT.
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in our e'e ; The cock may craw, the day may daw', But aye we'll taste the
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Here are we met three merry boys ;
Three merry boys I trow are we : And mony a nicht we've merry been,
And mony mae we liope to be !
It is the moon — I ken her horn- — That's blinkin' in the lift' sae hie;
She shines sae bricht to wyle us hame, But by my sooth she'll wait awee.*
Wha first shall rise to gang awa',
A cuckold coward loon is he ; "fflia last beside his chair shall fa',
He is the king amang us tlu-ee.
' To taste. 2 Livelong. 3 Ale, beer — sometimes, whiskj'. ■* The firmament. ^ A short time — but here to be understood ironicaUy.
" 0, WnLiE brew'd a peck o' mact." In the autumn of 1789, Burns wrote this excellent conTivial song, which his fi'iend Allan Masterton, a writing-master in Edinburgh, set to music. Masterton died about the year 1800. The song was written on the occasion of a " house-wai-ming " at William Nicol's farm of Laggan, in Nithsdale. "We had such a joyous meeting," says Burns, "that Mr. Masterton and I agreed, each in his own way, that we should celebrate the business." William Nicol was one of the masters of the High School of Edinburgh. He was Burns' companion in his tour of the Highlands, and died in the summer of 1797. Dr. Currie, in his Life of Burns, gives an interesting account of Nicol. The air, as composed by Masterton, appears in Johnson's Museum, vol. iii. p. 301 ; but that set has long been superseded by the one here given, which is an improvement on Masterton's air, by some unknown singer or arranger.
Captain Charles Gray, R.M., in No. XIV. of his "Cursory Remarks on Scottish Song," when speaking of Bui-ns as having " contributed no less than two hundred and twenty-eight songs " to Johnson's Museimi, adds — " we take credit to ourselves for being the first to claim for him the merit of his collecting and preserving above fifty Scottish melodies. This labour of love alone would have entitled Burns to the thanks and gi-atitude of his countrymen, had he done nothing else ; but it was lost in the refulgent blaze of his native genius, which shed a light on our national song that shall endure as long as our simple Doric is imderstood. In the lapse of ages even the lyrics of Burns may become obsolete, but other bards shall rise, animated with his spirit, and reproduce them, if possible, in more than their original beauty and splendour. We hold our national melodies to be imperishable. As no one can trace their origin, it would be equally futile to predict their end. Their essence is more divine than the language to which they are wedded."
No. XVI. F
82
SCOTTISH SONGS.
LEEZIE LINDSAY.
^ = 84
Andante Amoeoso.
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AIIRANGED BY J. T. 3URENNE.
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« Will ye
gang to the Hie - lands, Lee - zie
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gang to the Hie - lands, Lee - zie Lind - say ? My bride and my
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