Volume V, song 406, page 419 - 'The Wren's Nest' - Scanned...
Volume V, song 406, page 419 - 'The Wren's Nest' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)
Verse 1: 'The Robin cam to the wren's nest And keekit in and keekit in, O weel's me on your auld pow, Wad ye be in wad ye be in. Ye'se ne'er get leave to lie without, And I within, and I within As lang's I hae an auld clout, To row you in, to row you in.' The phrase 'weel's me on' refers to 'blessings on', and 'your auld pow' is 'your old head'.
The 'Scots Musical Museum' is the most important of the numerous eighteenth- and nineteenth-century collections of Scottish song. When the engraver James Johnson started work on the second volume of his collection in 1787, he enlisted Robert Burns as contributor and editor. Burns enthusiastically collected songs from various sources, often expanding or revising them, whilst including much of his own work. The resulting combination of innovation and antiquarianism gives the work a feel of living tradition.
Whilst there is little or no information on the song itself, John Glen (1900) notes that 'The tune appears to be constructed from three airs, 'Johnny's Gray Breeks', 'Where Gaudie rins' and 'The Highland laddie'.' William Stenhouse, editor of the 'Museum' following Johnson's death, claimed that the musical editor of the 'Museum', Stephen Clarke, included a note on his manuscript of the words and music, which stated that 'The tune is only a bad set of Johnny's Gray Breeks; I took it down from Mrs Burns's singing'. Glen questions whether Clarke was actually responsible for this note.
Volume V, song 406, page 419 - 'The Wren's Nest' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)