Volume III, song 277, page 286 - 'The rantin' dog the Daddie o't' - 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 'East nook o' Fife'): 'O wha my babie-clouts will buy, O Wha will tent me when I cry; Wha will kiss me where I lie. The rantin' dog the daddie o't. O Wha will own he did the faut, O wha will buy the groanin' maut, O Wha will tell me how to ca't. The rantin' dog the daddie o't.' 'Babie-clouts' are clothes for a baby and 'tent' is to look after or take notice of. In this instance 'faut' probably refers to blame or fault and 'groaning-malt' is ale brewed whilst under confinement. 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 writes, in his notes on the 'Museum', 'I composed this song pretty early in life and sent it to a young girl, a very particular acquaintance of mine, who was at that time under a cloud'. Unfortunately, the identity of the young girl is not known. The tune is an old Scots measure which, according to Glen (1900), first appeared in Book Four of James Oswald's 'Caledonian Pocket Companion' (1752) under the title 'She griped at ye greatest on't'.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503473

Title

Volume III, song 277, page 286 - 'The rantin' dog the Daddie o't' - 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