Volume V, song 420, page 433 - 'Young Jamie pride of a' the plain' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Verse 1 (to the tune of 'The carlin of the glen'): 'Young Jamie pride of a' the plain, sae galant and sae gay a swain, Thro' a' our lasses he did rove, And reign'd resistless king of love. But now wi' sighs and starting tears He strays amang the woods and briers Or in the glens and rocky caves, His sad complaining dowie rayes.' 'Dowie' is 'sad' or 'mournful'. 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. According to John Glen, in 'Early Scottish Melodies' (1900), 'The tune given to this song in the Museum is none other than the fine old air of 'Barbara Allan,' the Scottish version, considerably embellished.' Glen further notes that the title, 'The carlin of the glen', is from John Clark's 'Flores Musicae' (1773), 'the only source where it is to be found previous to its appearing in the Museum'.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503615

Title

Volume V, song 420, page 433 - 'Young Jamie pride of a' the plain' - 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