Volume III, song 222, pages 230 and 231 - 'Young Philander'...
Volume III, song 222, pages 230 and 231 - 'Young Philander' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)
Verse 1: 'Young Philander woo'd me lang but I was peevish and forbad him, I wou'd na tent his loving sang, But now I wish I wish I had him. Ilk morning when I view my glass, Then I perceive my beauty going, When the wrinkles seize the face, Then we may bid adieu to wooing. My beauty anes so much admir'd, I find it fading fast, and flying; My cheeks which coral like appear'd, Grow pale the broken blood decaying.'
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.
This song takes the form of an older woman's advice to younger women about love and the transience of beauty. There is a realness and earthiness inherent in folk song that makes it timeless, giving it a relevance in modern society. Issues such as love, lust, betrayal, loyalty, friendship and death are all an indelible part of the human condition. The accompanying melody, according to Glen (1900), first appeared in Adam Craig's 'Collection of the Choicest of the Scots Tunes' (c. 1730), and soon after was to be found in the second edition of William Thomson's 'Orpheus Caledonius' (1733). In both collections it was entitled 'The Peer of Leith'.
Volume III, song 222, pages 230 and 231 - 'Young Philander' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)