Volume IV, song 316, page 327 - 'What can a young lassie do wi' an auld man' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Verse 1: 'What can a young lassie, what shall a young lassie, What can a young lassie do wi' an auld man. Bad luck on the pennie that tempted my minnie To sell her poor Jenny for siller an lan'. Bad luck on the pennie that tempted my Minnie to sell her poor Jenny for siller and lan'. ' The Scots word for old is 'auld' whilst 'minnie' is a name for mother. 'Siller' is Scots for silver. 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 tune to this piece is recorded in James Oswald's 'Caledonian Pocket Companion, Book IV' (1759), although a slight alteration in the title here, some commentators believe, implies that the tune may a little older. The lyrics are attributed to Robert Burns in the 'Museum'. The subject and the realistic treatment of it is very typical of Burns and his literary representation of the society he lived amongst.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503512

Title

Volume IV, song 316, page 327 - 'What can a young lassie do wi' an auld man' - 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