Volume V, song 430, page 442 - 'The Lass of Ecclefechan' -...
Volume V, song 430, page 442 - 'The Lass of Ecclefechan' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)
Verse 1: 'Gat ye me, O gat ye me, O gat ye me wi' naething, Rock and reel and spinning wheel A mickle quarter bason. Bye attour, my Gutcher has a hich house and a laigh ane a' for bye, my bonnie sel, The toss of Ecclefechan.'
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.
The language used in these lyrics is a little inaccessible due to the dialect used and the fact that most of the implements are no longer in use. A rough translation of the words reads, 'Got you me, O, got you me, / Got you me with nothing, / Distaff and reel, and spinning wheel / A big quarter basin. / Furthermore, my grandfather has / A high house and a low one, / All as well as my lovely self, / The toast of Ecclefechan.'
Volume V, song 430, page 442 - 'The Lass of Ecclefechan' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)