Volume I, song 059, page 60 - 'Sae Merry as we twa' hae been' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Verse 1: 'A Lass was laden'd with care, Sat heavily under yon thorn; I listen'd a while for to hear, When thus she began to mourn, When e'er my dear shepherd was there, The birds did melodiously sing, And cold nipping winter did wear, A face that resembled the spring. Sae merry as we twa ha'e been, Sae merry as we twa ha'e been, My heart it is like for to break. When I think on the days we ha'e seen.' 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. Robert Burns, in notes which he made on the songs as collected them, wrote, 'This song is beautiful. The chorus in particular is truly pathetic. I never could learn anything of its author'. Despite this many modern commentators have attributed the words to Allan Ramsay (1686-1758) but do claim that the tune is older. It is certainly preserved in the Straloch and Skene manuscripts and featured in most of the folksong collections of the time.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503254

Title

Volume I, song 059, page 60 - 'Sae Merry as we twa' hae been' - 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