Volume I, song 089, page 90 - 'Oh ono chrio' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Verse 1: 'Oh was not I a weary wight! Oh! ono chri oh! oh ono chri O! Maid, Wife and Widow, in one night ! Oh ono chrio ono chrio ono chrio O! When in my soft and yielding arms, oh ono chri oh ono chri O! When most I thought him free from harms, oh ono chri ono chri ono chri oh!' 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. Burns wrote, in the notes he kept on the songs he collected, 'Dr. Blacklock informed me that this song was composed on the infamous massacre of Glencoe'. The Dr. Blacklock is probably Thomas Blacklock who was called the 'blind bard' due to the loss of his sight as a baby. He was a friend of Burns as well as his commentator. The date of this poem, despite the subject matter, is still ambiguous. It is, however, believed to be of highland origin and may even have been adapted from a Gaelic song.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503284

Title

Volume I, song 089, page 90 - 'Oh ono chrio' - 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