Volume II, song 153, page 160 - 'My lov'd Celestia' - 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 'Benny Side'): 'My lov'd Celestia is so fair, So charming in each part, That ev'ry feature is a snare To catch my wounded heart. And, like the flutt'ring bird in vain That labours to be freed, the more I struggle with my pain, Alas! The more I bleed.' 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. According to Glen (1900), 'this pleasant melody is contained in Oswald's Caledonian Pocket Companion (1759), book xii; also in Francis Peacock's Fifty Scotch Airs'. In both collections the tune was spelled 'Benney Side'. It was described by Peacock as 'a new scotch air' and is generally considered to be of that time. The song is possibly the work of Alexander Roberston of Struan (see also song 147).

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503349

Title

Volume II, song 153, page 160 - 'My lov'd Celestia' - 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