Volume V, song 492, page 508 - 'There grows a bonie brier bush &c.' - 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 grows a bonie brier bush in our kail-yard, There grows a bonie brier bush in our kail yard And below the bonie brier bush there's a lassie and a lad, And they're busy busy courting in our kail yard.' 'Kailyard' is a Scots for a cabbage patch, 'kail' means cabbage. 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. The letter 'z' at the bottom of this page informs the reader that 'There grows a bonie brier bush' was an old song with recent additions. John Glen, in 'Early Scottish Melodies' (1900), put forward William Stenhouse's (1853) claim that the song, with the exception of only a few lines, was written for the 'Museum' by Burns. Since Glen found much of what Stenhouse wrote to be grossly inaccurate, he maintained a certain distance from Stenhouse's view. In this instance, however, Stenhouse was very likely correct. Burns revised and expanded many of the existing songs that were included by Johnson.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503686

Title

Volume V, song 492, page 508 - 'There grows a bonie brier bush &c.' - 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

- 129 x 211 mm