Volume I, song 090, page 91 - 'Low down in the Broom' - 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 Daddy is a canker'd carle, He'll ne twin wi' his gear, My Minny she's a scolding wife, Hads a' the house a steer; But let them say, or let them do, It's a' ane to me; For he's low down, he's in the broom, that's waiting on me; Waiting on me, my love, he's waiting on me, For he's low down, he's in the broom, that's waiting for me.' The translation for the Scots 'cankered carle' is a bad tempered boorish man. 'Twining ones gear' means to be separated from ones property. 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. It was suggested before the 'Museum' was published that this song had been written by Wedderburn in the mid-sixteenth century. There was, however, very little evidence to support the statement at the time and there is even less now. The song was included in other music collections of the time under the alternative titles of, 'My Love's in the Broom' and 'Down in the Broom'.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503285

Title

Volume I, song 090, page 91 - 'Low down in the Broom' - 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