Volume II, song 101, pages 102 and 103 - 'When Guilford...
Volume II, song 101, pages 102 and 103 - 'When Guilford good our Pilot stood' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)
Verse 1 (to the tune of 'M. freicedan'): 'When Guilford good our Pilot stood, An' did our hellim thraw, man, Ae night, at tea, began a plea, Within America, man: Then up they gat the maskin-pat, And in the sea did jaw, man; An' did nae less, in full Congress, Than quite refuse our law, man.' The Scots word for helm is 'hellim' and 'thraw' conveys a sense of twisting and writhing. 'Maskin-pat' is old Scots for teapot.
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.
Although this song's lyrics are attributed to Robert Burns, he has left no comment on it in his personal notes on this song collection. The song covers a rather odd topic for a Scottish folksong, the American War, and is written with a satirical slant. The melody, 'An freicedan dubh' (The Black Watch), is of Gaelic origin. As a result of its name it has in the past been attributed to a northern pipe major. It would have been a difficult piece to play on the pipes, however, and most musicians of the time played by ear rather than from sheet music.
Volume II, song 101, pages 102 and 103 - 'When Guilford good our Pilot stood' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)