Volume IV, song 312, page 322 - 'My Tochers The Jewel' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Verse 1: 'O meikle thinks my Luve o' my beauty, And meikle thinks my Luve o' my kin; But little thinks my Luve, I ken brawlie, My tocher's the jewel has charms for him. It's a' for the apple he'll nourish the tree; It's a' for the hiney he'll cherish the bee, My laddie's sae meikle in love wi' the siller, He canna hae luve to spare for me.' 'Tocher' is the old Scots word for a dower, or dowry, which is the woman's family's contribution to the marriage contract. 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. This song was written by Robert Burns. He left a comment in his friend Robert Riddell's personal copy of the 'Museum', 'This tune is claimed by Nath-l Gow. It is notoriously taken from 'The muckin' o' Geordie's byre'. It is also to be found, long prior to Nath-l Gow's aera (Aria), in Aird's 'Selection of Airs and Marches', the first edition, under the name of 'The highway to Edin-r'.' After the publication of this volume, however, Gow wrote a response in his own publication declaring that the melody was not his or his family's, although he did not make any suggestions as to its authorship.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503508

Title

Volume IV, song 312, page 322 - 'My Tochers The Jewel' - 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

- 132 x 211 mm