Volume II, song 142, page 149 - 'Where winding Forth adorns the vale' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Verse 1 (to the tune of 'Cumbernauld House'): 'Where winding Forth adorns the vale, Fond Strephon once a shepherd gay, Did to the rocks his lot bewail, And thus addresst his plaintive lay. O Julia, more than lilly fair, More blooming than the op'ning rose, How can thy breast relentless wear. A heart more cold than winter's snows.' 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 words to this song were written by the Scottish poet, Robert Fergusson (1750-74). Burns was a great admirer of Fergusson and upon his death commissioned a stone to be erected in the Canongate Churchyard in Fergusson's memory. The tune, 'Cumbernauld House', was included in a number of early collections, including Barsanti's collection of 1742 under the title 'Lord Aboyne's Welcome' and in the fifth edition of John Playford's 'Apollo's Banquet', published in 1687.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503338

Title

Volume II, song 142, page 149 - 'Where winding Forth adorns the vale' - 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