Volume V, song 439, page 450 - 'Rock and wee pickle Tow' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Verse 1: 'There was an auld wife had a wee pickle tow, And she wad gae try the spinning o't, But looten her down, her rock took a low, And that was an ill beginning o't. She spat on't she slet on't and tramp't on its pate but a' she could do it wad hae its ain gate, At last she sat down on't and bitterly grat, For e'er having try'd the spinning o't.' 'Grat' means wept. 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 melody to this piece is thought to be very old. It was first published in 1663 by John Playford in his 'Musick's Handbook'. Here, however, it also went by the title of 'Montrose's March'. The words to the song appear quite inaccessible at first due to the dialect used and the fact that most of the implements are no longer in use. The subject of the song, however, is having problems with her drop spinning, becomes frustrated with it and loses her temper. The emotions expressed here are still recognizable today and the situation is probably a close reflection of eighteenth-century Scottish life.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503633

Title

Volume V, song 439, page 450 - 'Rock and wee pickle Tow' - 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

- 258 x 211 mm