Volume I, song 060, page 61 - 'Bonny Christie' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Verse 1: 'How sweetly smells the summer green. Sweet taste the peach and cherry, Painting and order please our een, and claret makes us merry: But finest colours, fruits and flowers, and wine tho' I be thrifty, Lose a' their charms, and weaker powers, Compar'd with these of Christy.' 'Een' is the Scots word for eyes. 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 was first published in Ramsay's 'The Tea-Table Miscellany' (1724-7). It was, however, first written down in the Guthrie Manuscript which was compiled between 1670 and 1680. There are various versions of it which go by titles such as 'Bonny Christian' or 'Bonny Christon'. The tunes to these versions, however, are now difficult to understand and therefore difficult to play.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503255

Title

Volume I, song 060, page 61 - 'Bonny Christie' - 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

- 130 x 211 mm