Volume VI, song 556, pages 574 and 575 - 'Dinna think bonie Lassie I'm gaun to leave you' - 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 dinna think bonie Lassie I'm gaun to leave you, Dinna think bonie Lassie I'm gaun to leave you, Dinna think bonie lassie I'm gaun to leave you; I'll tak' a stick in to my hand an' come again an see you. Far's the gate ye hae to gang, darks the night an' eerie, far's the gate ye hae to gang, dark's the night an' eerie, far's the gate ye hae to gang, dark's the night an' eerie, O stay this ae night wi' your love, an' dinna gang an' leave 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. This song, it was claimed just after the 'Museum's' publication, was the result of Hector MacNeill's penmanship, although a question mark does still exist over this assertion. The tune to this piece has been given no particular name here, but is similar to a melody which goes by the alternative titles of 'Carrick's Reel', 'Clunie's Reel' and 'My love's in Germany'.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503751

Title

Volume VI, song 556, pages 574 and 575 - 'Dinna think bonie Lassie I'm gaun to leave you' - 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