Volume V, song 435, pages 446 and 447 - 'The Auld Wife ayont the Fire' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Verse 1: 'The auld wife beyond the fire, The auld wife aneist the fire The auld wife ayont the fire She died for lack o' snishing There was a wife won'd in a glen, And she had dochters nine or ten, That sought the house baith butt and ben, To find their mam a snishing. The auld wife beyont the fire, The auld wife anist the fire The auld wife ayont the fire She died for lack o' snishing.' 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. The melody to this song was first recorded in Mrs Crockett's Manuscript book of music in 1709, under almost the same title of the 'The Auld Wife beyond the Fire'. It was then published for the first time in Walsh's 'Caledonian Country Dances' during the 1720s. It continued to be frequently reprinted, including this entry in the 'Museum', and so must have proved popular. The language is rather difficult to understand and is heavily accented. This could suggest that it was quite old at the time and deeply embedded in the oral tradition. The topic of the piece is also quite ordinary and the domestic situation may have been instantly recognizable to many people.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503629

Title

Volume V, song 435, pages 446 and 447 - 'The Auld Wife ayont the Fire' - 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

- 258 x 211 mm