Volume IV, song 331, pages 340 and 341 - 'Yon wild and mossy mountains' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Verse 1: 'Yon wild, mossy mountains sae lofty and wide, That nurse in their bosom the youth o' the Clyde, Where the grous lead their coveys throu', the heather, to feed, And the shepherd tents his flock as he pipes on his reed: Where the grous lead their coveys thro' the heather to feed, And the shepherd tents his flocks as he pipes on his reed:' 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 was asked by his very good friend Robert Riddell of Glenriddell to record comments on some of the songs in the 'Museum'. Burns left these on the interleaving pages of Riddell's copy of the 'Museum'. Of this song Burns left this rather veiled and dramatic comment, 'This tune is by Oswald. The song alludes to a part of my private history, which is of no consequence to the world to know'. Although the girl's name is no longer known, Burns is now famed for his travels as an exciseman and his many affairs.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503527

Title

Volume IV, song 331, pages 340 and 341 - 'Yon wild and mossy mountains' - 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

- 263 x 211 mm