Volume III, song 214, pages 222 and 223 - 'The Breast knots' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Verse 1: 'Hey the bonny, hey the bonny, O the bonny breast knots; Tight and bonny were they a', When they got on their breast knots. There was a bridal in this town, And till't the lasses a' were boun', With mankie facings on their gown, And some of them had breast knots.' Chorus: 'Hey the bonny, how the bonny, O the bonny breast knots, Tight and bonny were they a' When they got on their breast knots.' 'Breast knot' is Scots for a knot of ribbons worn on the breast and, in this instance, 'mankie facings' are cloth facings. 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. This particular songs runs to fifteen verses and a chorus. It is considerably longer than most of the songs contained in the 'Museum'. According to Glen (1900) 'it is quite evident that the writer of the song knew the air to be a dance tune, as he makes the bride ask the piper to play it'. At the time Glen was writing, 100 or so years after the publication of the third volume of the 'Museum', the song was being sung to a different tune introduced by John Sinclair in 1826.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503411

Title

Volume III, song 214, pages 222 and 223 - 'The Breast knots' - 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

- 263 x 211 mm