Volume IV, song 372, pages 384 and 385 - 'The poor...
Volume IV, song 372, pages 384 and 385 - 'The poor Thresher' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)
Verse 1: 'A nobleman liv'd in a village of late, Hard by a poor Thresher whose toil it was great, Who had many children and most of them small, And nought but his labour to keep them up all.'
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.
Exploring the ancient theme that possessing money is not a guarantee of happiness, this pastoral song tells the story of a friendly meeting that takes place between a lowly thresher and a nobleman. The song contrasts the life of men from opposing ends of the social ladder, and shows that virtue brings its own reward. John Glen (1900) writes that it is not clear whether this song is Scottish, English or Irish, though he believes it to be Irish in origin. Explaining the reasons behind this conclusion, Glen states that the tune is very much in the style of an Irish ballad.
Volume IV, song 372, pages 384 and 385 - 'The poor Thresher' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)