Volume III, song 296, page 396 - 'Tam Glen' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Verse 1: 'My heart is a breaking, dear Tittie, Some counsel unto me com len', To anger them a' is a pity, But what will I do wi' Tam Glen.' 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. Robert Burns wrote these lyrics, but the tune in the 'Museum' is an English one, called 'My name is Hewson the Cobbler'. It was used in the ballad opera, 'The Jovial Crew' (1731), and also in other operas of the same type. However, at the time John Glen did his researches, in the late nineteenth century, 'Tam Glen' was always sung to the Scots tune, 'The Mucking o' Geordie's Byre'.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503492

Title

Volume III, song 296, page 396 - 'Tam Glen' - 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