Volume I, song 054, page 55 - 'Bonny Jean' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Verse 1: 'Love's goddess in a myrtle grove, Said, Cupid, bend thy bow with speed, Nor let the shaft at random rove; For Jeany's haughty heart must bleed. The smiling boy, with divine art, From Paphos shot an arrow keen; Which flew unerring to the heart, And kill'd the pride of bonny Jean.' 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. According to Glen (1900), this song was written by Allan Ramsay (1686-1758) and published in a collection of his poems (1720) under the title 'Bonny Jean'. As to the tune, its first appearance in print is thought to have been in Thomson's 'Orpheus Caledonius' (1725). At the time Glen was writing, 'Bonny Jean' was 'much better known as the air to James Ballantine's popular song, 'Castles in the Air''.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503249

Title

Volume I, song 054, page 55 - 'Bonny Jean' - 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