Volume II, song 109, pages 111 and 112 - 'Love is the cause of my Mourning' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Verse 1: 'By a murmuring stream a fair shepherdess lay, Be so kind, O ye nymphs, I oft heard her say, Tell Strephon I die, if he passes this way, And love is the cause of my mourning. False shepherds, that tell me of beauty and charms, Decieve me, for Strephon's cold heart never warms; Yet bring me this Strephon, I'll die in his arms; O Strephon, the cause of my mourning. But first, said she, let me go down to the shades below, e'er ye let Strephon know that I have lov'd him so: Then on my pale cheek no blushes will shew, That love is the cause of my mourning.' 'Strephon' derives from Sir Philip Sidney's 1504 pastoral prose romance, 'Arcadia'. It has since been adopted as a name representative of a 'rustic lover'. 'Chloris' was a minor Greek goddess of vegetation. Her name is derived from the Greek 'khloros', meaning green. This pastoral song tells the tale of two lovers. Chloris dies of a broken heart for the love of Strephon, who she thinks does not care for her. Later, tragically, Strephon, thinking all the time of his love for Chloris, passes by only to find her dead by the stream. Strephon is so distraught that he dies of grief beside her.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503306

Title

Volume II, song 109, pages 111 and 112 - 'Love is the cause of my Mourning' - 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

- 260 x 211 mm