Volume I, song 073, page 74 - 'Mary Scot' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Verse 1: 'Happy's the love which meets return, When in soft flame souls equal burn; But words are wanting to discover, The torments of a hopeless lover. Ye registers of heaven, relate, If looking o'er the rolls of fate, Did you there see me mark'd to marrow Mary Scot, the flow'r of Yarrow.' 'Marrow' is an Old Scots word which has many variant uses but is best understood in this context as to unite and wed. 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 Riddell, a friend of Burns, also wrote notes on the songs collected and recorded further details of Mary Scot. She was the daughter of the Dryhope family and her daughter established the line of Lord Heathfields. Mary upon marrying into the Harden family, was kept by her father-in-law in return for her husband sharing her father's profits! This is the second recorded version of the lyrics, with the original being a typically simple Border air. There is some confusion over the tune but 'Carrack's Rant', 'Clurie's Reel' and 'Long Cold Nights' all fit the words and have been associated with the piece over the years.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503268

Title

Volume I, song 073, page 74 - 'Mary Scot' - 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