Volume V, song 450, page 462 - 'Put the gown upon the...
Volume V, song 450, page 462 - 'Put the gown upon the Bishop' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)
Verse 1: 'Put the gown upon the Bishop, That's his miller due o' knaveship Jenny Geddes was the gossip, Pat the gown upon the Bishop; Pat the gown upon the Bishop.' 'Knaveship' was a payment of meal made by the miller to his under-miller.
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 Burns left no commentary on this song, unlike some of the songs in the earlier volumes, the verse was thought at the time to be the remnants of reformation ballad. This would put some of the content into context certainly but much of the meaning has been lost. The tune first featured in William McGibbon's 'Aria di Camera' (c.1732) and continued to be reprinted including its occurrence in the 'Museum'.
Volume V, song 450, page 462 - 'Put the gown upon the Bishop' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)