Volume III, song 231, page 240 - 'My bony Mary' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Verse 1: 'Go, fetch to me a pint o' wine, And fill it in a silver tassie; That I may drink before I go A service to my bonie lassie. The boat rocks at the Pier o' Leith, Fu' loud the wind blaws frae the Ferry, The ship rides by the Berwicklaw, And I maun leave my bony Mary.' 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 left a short note on this song in his personal commentary on the 'Museum', 'The air is Oswald's; the first half of the stanza is old, the rest is mine.' It was a fairly common occurrence in the 'Museum' for Burns to take older fragments of folksongs and write around the existing words to preserve the work. The melody to the piece also goes by the names of 'The Silver Tassie', 'The Secret Kiss' and 'Colin's Kisses'.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503428

Title

Volume III, song 231, page 240 - 'My bony Mary' - 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

- 132 x 211 mm