Volume III, song 280, page 289 - 'Hardyknute: Or, The Battle of Largs' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Verse 1: 'Stately stept he east the wa, And stately stept he west: Full seventy zeirs he now had sene, With skerfs sevin zeirs of rest.' 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. King Alexander III (1241-86) successfully defeated the Norwegian Forces under King Haakon IV (1204-63) at the Battle of Largs in 1263. When diplomacy had failed him in his attempts to reclaim the Western Isles from Haakon, Alexander carefully planned an assault on the Norwegian Fleet. Alexander's success at Largs eventually led to the signing of the Treaty of Perth (1266) by King Magnus, Haakon's son and successor. In the treaty, the sovereignty of the Western Isles and Kintyre was returned to the Scottish crown.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503476

Title

Volume III, song 280, page 289 - 'Hardyknute: Or, The Battle of Largs' - 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