Volume I, song 081, page 82 - 'Etrick Banks' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Verse 1: 'On Etrick banks, ae summer's night, At gloaming when the sheep came hame, I met my lassy bra' and tight, While wand'ring through the mist her lane. My heart grew light, I, ran, and flang my arms about her bonny neck; I kiss'd and clap'd her there fu' lang, My words they were na' mony feck.' The Scots word 'feck' in the this context translates as value or worth. 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. There is some doubt over whether this song was composed before 1733, as this was its first publication date. There had been collected volumes of work published from 1700 onwards, but none of them include any allusion to this song.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503276

Title

Volume I, song 081, page 82 - 'Etrick Banks' - 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