Volume V, song 428, page 440 - 'Charlie he's my darling' -...
Volume V, song 428, page 440 - 'Charlie he's my darling' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)
Verse 1: ''Twas on a monday morning, Right early in the year, That Charlie came to our town, The young Chevalier, An' Charlie he's my darling, my darling, my darling, Charlie he's my darling the young Chevalier.' A 'Chevalier' is a knight or, alternatively, a favourite son.
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.
Although Johnson makes no mention of it here, this is considered by many to be a Burns composition. Unfortunately, it is difficult to determine whether Burns was responsible for writing 'Charlie he's my darling' or whether in fact he just collected or revised it for the 'Museum'. As to the tune, John Glen in his book 'Early Scottish Melodies' (1900) noted that the melody most associated with this song was based on that given in the 'Museum', and could be found in Volume One of R.S. Smith's 'Scottish Minstrelsy' (c. 1820).
Volume V, song 428, page 440 - 'Charlie he's my darling' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)