Volume I, song 050, pages 50 and 51 - 'Nancy's to the green-wood gane' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Verse 1: 'There Nancy's to the green-wood gane, To hear the gowd-spink chatt'ring, And Willie he has follow'd her, To gain her love by flatt'ring: But a' that he cou'd say, or do, She geck'd and scorned at him, And ay when he began to woo, She bid him mind wha gat him.' A 'gowd-spink' is a goldfinch and to 'geck' means to mock or deride. 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 published in the first volume of Allan Ramsay's 'Tea-Table Miscellany' (1724-7), under the title 'Scornfu' Nancy'. Although considered an ancient song, there is no evidence to support this. Glen (1900) notes that the tune also appeared in the Blaikie Manuscript of 1692, entitled 'Tow to Spine (Spin)', and in Margaret Sinkler's Manuscript of 1710.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503245

Title

Volume I, song 050, pages 50 and 51 - 'Nancy's to the green-wood gane' - 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

- 260 x 211 mm