Volume V, song 404, page 417 - 'Mary Queen of Scots Lament'...
Volume V, song 404, page 417 - 'Mary Queen of Scots Lament' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)
Verse 1: ' Now nature hangs her mantle green On ilka blooming tree, And spreads her sheets o' daisies white Out o'er the grassy lea.'
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 Johnson and John Glen (1900), this song was written by Burns for inclusion in the 'Museum'. Interestingly, it is accompanied by the same tune as 'Old Set, Red red Rose' (song 403). Glen disputes William Stenhouse's claim that 'the verses are adapted to the ancient air, entitled 'Mary Queen of Scots Lament', which Burns communicated to the Editor of the Museum alongst with the Ballad'. Firstly, he doubts the antiquity of the melody and, secondly, concludes that the melody does not feature in any collections prior to the 'Museum' nor does it resemble the melody, 'called by (Domenico) Corri and others', 'Queen Mary's Lamentation'.
Volume V, song 404, page 417 - 'Mary Queen of Scots Lament' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)