Volume IV, song 318, pages 328 and 329 - 'The Auld Goodman' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Verse 1: 'Late in an evening forth I went, A little before the sun gaed down, And then I chanc'd by accident, To light on a battle now begun. A man and his wife was fa'n in a strife, I canna weel tell ye how it began; But ay she wail'd her wretched life, And cry'd ever alack my auld goodman.' 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. Not a lot of information is available on this song. It was first published in 1730s both in Ramsay's 'Tea-Table Miscellany' as an addition and in Thomson's 'Orpheus Caledonius' (1733). The origin of the words, however, remains a mystery. The term 'auld goodman' at this time in Scottish society also referred to a plot of land which remained uncultivated to appease the devil. Ploughing the land was supposed to bring bad luck. This could imply that the unhappiness and bad luck featured here is the result of not paying attention to superstitions.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503514

Title

Volume IV, song 318, pages 328 and 329 - 'The Auld Goodman' - 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

- 263 x 211 mm