Volume I, song 088, page 89 - 'My Nanny-O' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Verse 1: 'While some for pleasure pawn their health, /Twixt Lais and the Bagnio, I'll save my self, and without stealth, Bless and caress my, Nanny-O, She bids more fair t'engage a Jove, Then Leda did, or Danae-O, Were I to paint the Queen of love, None else shou'd fit but Nanny-O.' 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. All of the characters referred to in this song feature in Greek mythology and would have been instantly recognisable to most people. La��s was a Greek courtesan and known as the most beautiful woman of Corinth. After a few high profile love affairs, she was stabbed to death by the jealous women of Corinth. 'Bagnio' in this context is a politer way of referring to a brothel. Jove is an alternative name for Zeus. Leda although probably more notorious for her affair with Zeus, who was disguised as a swan, is actually a more valuable motif for wife and motherhood. Danae was the mother of Preseus who was conceived with the aid of Zeus, who assumed the form of a shower of gold. Preseus eventually went on to kill his grandfather, who had been forewarned and spent most of his life trying to evade this destiny.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503283

Title

Volume I, song 088, page 89 - 'My Nanny-O' - 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