Volume IV, song 343, pages 352 and 353 - 'Lady Randolph's Complaint' - 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 Earl Douglas's Lament): 'My hero! my hero, my beauteus my brave, How proud was my soul of thy virtues and thee Doom'd here prematurely to find a cold grave, Nor couldst thou elude what thou couldst not foresee Of gen'rous endeavours, was this thy reward. The Lord of this mansion from foes to defend; Henceforth hospitality who shall regard; What man on the friendship of man shall depend.' 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 and its melody are most probably based on John Home's (1722-1808) tragedy 'Douglas' (1759). This relates the dramatic confusion over Lady Randolph's son by her first husband, Lord Douglas. Her second husband, Lord Randolph, is led to believe that the boy is his wife's lover and so kills him. Upon hearing this Lady Randolph throws herself off a cliff. Her husband then, to escape his grief and atone for his mistake, fights in the Danish Scottish war until his own death. The melody is thought to be older and also goes by the titles of 'When I hae a sixpence under my thumb', 'Robidh donna Gorrach', 'Todlen Hame' and 'Todlen but an' todlen ben'.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503539

Title

Volume IV, song 343, pages 352 and 353 - 'Lady Randolph's Complaint' - 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