Volume IV, song 307, pages 316 and 317 - 'Peas Strae' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Verse 1: 'The country swain that haunts the plain, And drives the lightsome plow; At night though tir'd, with love all sir'd, He views the lassie's brow. When morning comes, instead of drums, /The flails slap merrilie; To raise the maids out o' their beds, To shake the pease-strae. When morning comes, instead of drums, The flails slap merrilie; To raise the maids out o' their beds, To make the pease-strae.' In English, 'pease-strae' is 'pea-straw', or the straw made from the dried pea plant. 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. The tune is a Strathspey reel, and it is still a popular Scots country dance tune today. Glen (1900) could not find it published earlier than around 1745, when it appeared in the fourth volume of John Walsh's 'Caledonian Country Dances', although Glen believes it to be a 'very, very poor' version. Better is the version included in Robert Bremner's 'Scots Reels or Country Dances' (1760), under the title of 'Clean Peas Straw'.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503503

Title

Volume IV, song 307, pages 316 and 317 - 'Peas Strae' - 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