Volume V, song 407, pages 419 and 420 - 'Peggy in Devotion'...
Volume V, song 407, pages 419 and 420 - 'Peggy in Devotion' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)
Verse 1: 'Sweet Nymph of my devotion Let thy smile my hours beguile; For care's an idle notion, Then let love be free. Since nature gave thee beauty, Grant the kiss, The highest bliss, For know it is thy duty Listen girl to me.'
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.
John Glen included a very short but interesting note on this particular song in his book, 'Early Scottish Melodies' (1900). Firstly, he writes that 'This tune is not Scottish; it is simply an imitation of the Grub Street order' and, secondly, he notes that the melody was originally sung 'to some very vile words entitled 'The Scotch parson's Daughter'', which was contained in Tom D'urfey's 'Pills to purge Melancholy' (1720). The name Grub Street has become synonymous with writers of low-quality literature. Originally a street in London, Grub Street was famous for its community of impecunious writers and literary hacks.
Volume V, song 407, pages 419 and 420 - 'Peggy in Devotion' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)