Volume V, song 445, page 457 - 'The glancing of her Apron' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Verse 1: 'In lovely August last, On Mononday at morn As thro' the fields I past, To view the yellow corn I looked me behind, And saw come o'er the know. And glancing in her apron, With a bonnie brent brow.' A 'brent brow' in Scots means a forehead that is high and smooth. 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. There is unfortunately very little about this sweet song, which is pleasant on the ear and light-hearted in content. Burns left commentaries on some of the songs in the earlier volumes of the 'Museum'. These he wrote into his friend Robert Riddell's copy of the 'Museum' but no such information has been left on this little piece. The melody was first published in the second edition of William Thomson's 'Orpheus Caledonius' (1733).

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503639

Title

Volume V, song 445, page 457 - 'The glancing of her Apron' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Object Type

PhysicalObject

Measurements

- 129 x 211 mm