Volume III, song 205, page 214 - 'When I upon thy bosom...
Volume III, song 205, page 214 - 'When I upon thy bosom lean' - 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 'Scots Recluse'): 'When I upon thy bosom lean, And fondly clasp thee a', my ain, I glory in the sacred ties That made us ane, wha ance were twain: A mutual flame inspires us baith, The tender look, the melting kiss: Even years shall ne'er destroy our love, But only gie us change o' bliss.'
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 many of the songs in the 'Museum' have a comic or bawdy element to them, 'When I upon thy bosom lean' is a particularly heartfelt and tender love song. According to Burns, in his notes on the 'Museum', it was written by John Lapraik, late of Dalfram, near Muirkirk. Lapraik was also responsible for 'Jenny, was fair and unkind' (song 208). The accompanying tune was composed by James Oswald and included in his 'Curious Collection of Scots Tunes', published in 1740.
Volume III, song 205, page 214 - 'When I upon thy bosom lean' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)