Volume V, song 417, page 430 - 'Comin thro' the rye' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Verse 1: 'Comin' thro' the rye, poor body Comin thro' the rye She draigl't a' her petticoatie Comin thro'the rye. Oh Jenny's a' weet poor body, Jenny's seldom dry She draigl't a' her petticoatie Comin thro' the rye'. 'Draiglit' means 'covered with mud' or 'drenched'. This is the first set of 'Comin thro' the rye'. The second set is song 417 of the 'Museum' and begins, 'Gin a body meet a body, Comin thro' the rye'. 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. Johnson has included a note informing the reader that 'Comin thro' the rye' was 'written for this work by Robert Burns'. It is in fact one of Burns's most popular and well-known songs and, according to John Glen (1900), is accompanied by a melody 'closely allied to the tune now known as 'Auld Lang Syne''. Whilst Burns wrote this version around 1796, earlier versions with a bawdier subject matter were already in existence.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503612

Title

Volume V, song 417, page 430 - 'Comin thro' the rye' - 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