Volume I, song 087, page 88 - 'The Wawking of the Fauld' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Verse 1: ' My Peggy is a young thing, just enter'd in her teens, Fair as the day, and sweet as may, Fair as the day, and always gay; my Peggy is a young thing, and I'm not very auld; yet well I like to meet her, at the wawking of the fauld. My Peggy speaks sae sweetly, whene'er we meet alane, I wish nae mair, to lay my care, I wish nae mair of a' that's rare; my Peggy speaks sae sweetly, to a' the lave I'm cauld; But she gars a' my spirits glow, at wawking of the fauld.' 'Wauking of the Fauld' is the Scots for keeping watch over the sheep. 'Lave I'm cauld' translates as 'to all the rest I'm cold'. 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 origins of this song are quite obscure. Its form is ancient, but there is no record of it prior to 1760. There are different versions of the tune - although all of them remain pentatonic - some of which miss out the notes B and E and others which do not use C and F.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503282

Title

Volume I, song 087, page 88 - 'The Wawking of the Fauld' - 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