Volume IV, song 376, page 389 - 'Sic a wife as Willie had' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Verse 1: 'Willie Wastle dwalt on Tweed, The spot they ca'd it Linkumdoddie; Willie was a wabster gude, Cou'd stown a clue wi' ony bodie; He had a wife was dour and din, O Tinkler Maidgie was her mither, Sic a wife as Willie had, I wad na gie a button for her.' A 'wabster' is a weaver, 'stown' means stolen and a 'tinkler' is a tinker. 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. In this instance, Johnson is correct in attributing 'Sic a wife as Wille had' to the hand of Robert Burns. It is a comic song telling the tale of a weaver and his 'not so comely' wife. According to tradition, Linkumdoddie was the name of a small cottage situated at the point where the River Tweed and Logan Water converge. During the latter days of of the eighteenth century, it is known to have been inhabited by a weaver and his wife. It is said that whilst travelling between Edinburgh and Dumfries, Burns stayed near Linkumdoddie on a number of occasions. Perhaps he sought inspiration for this song from the weaver and his wife!

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503572

Title

Volume IV, song 376, page 389 - 'Sic a wife as Willie had' - 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