Volume II, song 107, page 110 - 'I'm o'er young to Marry Yet' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Verse 1: 'I am my mammy's ae bairn, Wi' unco folk I weary, Sir, And lying in a man's bed, I'm fley'd it make me irie, Sir. I'm o'er young, I'm o'er young, I'm o'er young to marry yet; I'm o'er young, 'twad be a sin, To tak me frae my mammy yet.' 'Unco' is a dialect abbreviation for uncouth and 'irie' is to be annoyed or irritated with something. 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. Burns recorded a comment on this song in his personal notes, 'The chorus of this song is old - the rest of it, such as it is, is mine'. Repetitive choruses, such as this, were popular among folksongs of the time. It made the song easier to remember and gave the plot structure, which was important to this oral tradition. The song to these words is not thought to be old, appearing in print in 1758. It can also be accompanied by the tune, 'The Braes of Balquidder'.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503304

Title

Volume II, song 107, page 110 - 'I'm o'er young to Marry Yet' - 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