Volume V, song 410, page 422 - 'My Wife has taen the gee' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Verse 1: 'A friend o' mine came here yestreen, And he wad hae me down, To drink a pot of ale wi' him, In the niest borrows town; But oh, alake! it was the waur, And fair the waur for me; For lang or e'er that I came hame, My wife had taen the gee.' To take the 'gee' is 'to take umbrage' and the 'niest borrows town' is the 'next borough town' or 'Royal Burgh'. 'Alake' is 'alas' and 'waur' in this instance means 'worse'. 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. According to John Glen, in 'Early Scottish Melodies' (1900), the first appearance of this song in print was in David Herd's 'Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs' (1769). Scottish-born David Herd (1732-1810), although an accountant's clerk by day, was a keen antiquarian and historian. His greatest achievement was the gathering together of what Walter Scott called 'the first classical collection of Scottish songs and ballads', otherwise known as 'Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs, Heroic Ballads etc.'. Interestingly, Glen was unable to find this particular song and tune together in any of the major song collections published prior to the 'Museum'.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503605

Title

Volume V, song 410, page 422 - 'My Wife has taen the gee' - 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

- 129 x 211 mm