Volume III, song 284, page 293 - 'The Bonie Banks of Ayr' -...
Volume III, song 284, page 293 - 'The Bonie Banks of Ayr' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)
Verse 1: 'The gloomy night is gath'ring fast, Loud roars the wild, in constant blast, Yon murky cloud is foul with rain, I see it driving o'er the plain; The hunter now has left the moor, The scattered coveys meet secure, The hunter now has left the moor, the scattered coveys meet secure, while here I wander prest with care, Along the lonely banks of Ayr.'
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 indeed written by Robert Burns. According to John Glen, in 'Early Scottish Melodies' (1900), Burns believed this song 'would be the last from his pen before leaving his native Caledonia'. This was at a time when Burns considered emigrating to Jamaica. A letter of encouragement, following the publication of 'Poems, chiefly in the Scots dialect' or the 'Kilmarnock Edition', from Dr Thomas Blacklock, in September 1786, however, was instrumental in Burns's decision to forego Jamaica and instead travel to Edinburgh. The accompanying tune was written by the composer, Allan Masterton.
Volume III, song 284, page 293 - 'The Bonie Banks of Ayr' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)