Volume I, song 085, page 86 - 'Go to the Ew-bughts, Marion' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Verse 1: 'Will ye go to the ew-bughts, Marion, and wear in the sheep wi' me; the sun shines sweet, my Marion, but nae half sae sweet as thee, the sun shines sweet, my Marion. but nae half as sweet as thee.' 'Ew-bught' is the Scots word for sheep-pens or the place where the ewes are milked. 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. Burns, in his notes on the song, highlights that it is unclear whether the song is from north or south Scotland, but he does believe it to be an 'old and charming air'. He also draws attention to the fact that there are an alternative set of words which begin: 'The lord o' Gordon had three dochters, / Mary, Marget, and Jean, / They wad na stay at bonie Castle Gordon, / But awa' to Aberdeen'.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503280

Title

Volume I, song 085, page 86 - 'Go to the Ew-bughts, Marion' - 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

- 130 x 211 mm