Volume IV, song 305, page 315 - 'John come Kiss me now' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Verse 1: 'John, come kiss me now, now, now; O John, my luve, come kiss me now, O John come kiss me by and by, For weel ye ken the way to woo. O some will court and compliment, And ither some will kiss and daut; But I will mak o' my gudeman, My ain gudeman, it is nae faute.' 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. In English, 'it is nae faute' can be roughly translated as, 'it is no shame', or 'it is nobody's fault', and 'daut' can be translated as 'dote'. This song, in common with many of the traditional songs featured in the 'Museum', takes for its subject the declarations of a lovesick woman. The melody, Glen (1900) claims, is English.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503501

Title

Volume IV, song 305, page 315 - 'John come Kiss me now' - 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