Volume V, song 415, pages 427 and 428 - 'Had I the wyte she bad me' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Verse 1: 'Had I the wyte, had I the wyte, Had I the wyte, she bade me had I the wyte, had I the wyte Had I the wyte she bad me Had I the wyte, had I the wyte, had I the wyte she bad me she watch'd me by the hie-gate-side, And up the loan she shaw'd me. And when I wad na venture in, A coward loon she ca'd me: And when I wad na' venture in, A coward loon she ca'd me: And when I wad na' venture in, A coward loon she ca'd me, Had Kirk and State been in the gate, I lighted when she bade me.' 'Wyte' is 'to blame', 'hie-gate-side' is the 'highway', 'shaw'd' is 'showed' and, finally, 'loon' is a boy or a lad. 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 John Glen, in 'Early Scottish Melodies' (1900), the accompanying melody is also known as 'Come Kiss wi' me, come clap wi' me' and 'Had I the wate she bade me'. It appeared in a number of major song collections prior to the 'Museum', including Allan Ramsay's 'Musick for the Scots Songs in the Tea-Table Miscellany' (c. 1725) and in the 1733 edition of William Thomson's 'Orpheus Caledonius'.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503610

Title

Volume V, song 415, pages 427 and 428 - 'Had I the wyte she bad me' - 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

- 258 x 211 mm