Volume IV, song 309, page 319 - 'Cock up your Beaver' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

'When first my brave Johnie lad came to this town, He had a blue bonnet that wanted the crown, But now he has gotten a hat and a feather, Hey brave Johnie lad, cock up your beaver. Cock up your beaver, and cock it fu' sprush; We'll over the border and gie them a brush; There's somebody there we'll teach better behaviour, Hey brave Johnie lad, cock up your beaver.' A 'beaver' is a hat, made of beaver skin, and the word 'sprush' means 'spruce', as in sprucing something up to make it look better. 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. Glen (1900) goes into great detail refuting Stenhouse's claims over the song's origin. Put simply, it is an old Scottish tune, first published in 1686 in the 'Dancing Master'. Its lyrics were altered, and much improved, by Burns in 1791 for inclusion in the 'Museum'. The original lyrics ran: 'Cock up your beaver / cock up your beaver / Hey, my Johnnie lad / cock up your beaver! / Cock up your beaver / and cock it nae wrang / We'll a' to England / ere it be lang.'

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503505

Title

Volume IV, song 309, page 319 - 'Cock up your Beaver' - 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