Volume V, song 409, page 421 - 'O gin ye were dead Gudeman'...
Volume V, song 409, page 421 - 'O gin ye were dead Gudeman' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)
Verse 1: 'O an ye were dead Gudeman A green turf on your head gudeman, I wad bestow my widowhood upon a ranton Highlandman. There's sax eggs in the pan gudeman, There's sax eggs in the pan gudeman There's ane to you, and twa to me, And three to our John Highlandman.' Chorus: 'O an ye were dead gudeman, A green turf on your head gudeman, I wad bestow my widowhood upon a ranton Highlandman.' A 'gudeman' in this instance refers to a husband.
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.
Whilst it is not known who wrote this particular song, John Glen, in 'Early Scottish Melodies' (1900), gives an interesting insight into the tune. It is known to have appeared under the title 'The Fidler's Morris' in the 'Dancing Master' of 1709 and, forty years later, in James Oswald's 'Caledonian Pocket Companion' (1759). In Oswald's collection it was entitled 'I wish that you were dead, goodman', whilst in William McGibbon's 'Third Collection of Scots Tunes' (1755) it was listed as 'Watson's Scots Measure'. Finally, Glen concludes that 'The melody is understood to be one of those the Reformers sang to their spiritual songs about 1549'.
Volume V, song 409, page 421 - 'O gin ye were dead Gudeman' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)