Volume V, song 416, page 429 - 'The Auld man, &c' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Verse 1: 'The auld man he came over the lea, Ha, ha, ha, but I'll no hae him; he cam on purpose for to court me wi' his auld beard newlin shaven.' 'lea' is 'land' and 'newlin' is 'newly' or 'recently'. 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. Like so many of the songs in the 'Museum, this light-hearted ditty deals with the trials of courtship. The humour lies in the fact that the man in question is rather old and frail, and not at all what the young woman in the song desires. As with many folk songs, the authorship of the song is unknown. The lack of any attribution is typical of a tradition in which songs were passed orally from generation to generation. As to the melody, Glen (1900) was of the opinion 'that it has been constructed from 'The Queen o' the Lothians', with a slight touch of 'The Carle he cam o'er the craft''.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503611

Title

Volume V, song 416, page 429 - 'The Auld man, &c' - 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

- 129 x 211 mm