Volume I, song 051, page 52 - 'Blink o'er the burn, sweet Bettie' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Verse 1: 'Leave kindred and friends, sweet Betty, Leave kindred and Friends for me! Assur'd thy servant is steady To Love, to Honour, and Thee. The gifts of nature and fortune, May fly by chance as they came, They're grounds the destinies sport on; But virtue is ever the same.' 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 melody was included in most of the major song collections published prior to the 'Museum', including Thomson's 'Orpheus Caledonius' (1725), and Ramsay's 'Tea-Table Miscellany' (1724-7). Each publication carried a slightly different version. As to the song, Burns recollects an older version that begins 'Blink over the burn sweet Betty, / It is a cauld winter night;'.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503246

Title

Volume I, song 051, page 52 - 'Blink o'er the burn, sweet Bettie' - 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