Volume IV, song 380, page 394 - 'Evanthe' - Scanned from...
Volume IV, song 380, page 394 - 'Evanthe' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)
Verse 1: 'When dear Evanthe we were young, As genial nature fresh and gay, To me these melting notes you sung, More sweet than Philomela's lay. But cruel time with envious wing, Blasts every charm that decks our year, With pleasure you no longer sing, No longer I with transport hear.'
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.
'Evanthe' is Greek for flower and the character of Philomela, mentioned in the first verse, hails from Greek mythology. Since time immemorial the tradition of storytelling has been deeply ingrained in the Scottish psyche. With such a plethora of Greek myths in existence, the temptation was there for storytellers and songwriters to incorporate such works into their own. According to Glen (1900), the song and melody were composed by the poet Thomas Blacklock (1721-91). A friend of Burns, Blacklock contributed a number of other songs to the 'Museum', including 'My love has forsaken me' (song 152), 'Fife and a' the lands about it' (song 120) and 'Here's a health to my true love, &c.' (song 166).
Volume IV, song 380, page 394 - 'Evanthe' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)