Volume II, song 141, pages 147 and 148 - 'The Tears of...
Volume II, song 141, pages 147 and 148 - 'The Tears of Scotland' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)
Verse 1: 'Mourn hapless Caledonia, mourn, Thy banish'd peace, thy laurels torn. Thy sons, for valour long renown'd, Lie slaughter'd on their native ground; Thy hospitable roofs no more Invite the stranger to the door; In smoaky ruins sunk they lie, The monuments of cruelty. The monuments of cruelty.'
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.
This song was written by the Scottish-born novelist, Tobias Smollett (1721-71). Burns, in his notes on the 'Museum', recorded that 'Dr Blacklock told me that Smollet(t), who was at bottom a great Jacobite, composed these beautiful and pathetic verses on the infamous depredations of the Duke of Cumberland after the Battle of Culloden'. The Dr Blacklock referred to in Burns's note is Thomas Blacklock (1721-91), minor poet and friend of Burns. As to the tune, it was composed by the Scottish composer and music publisher, James Oswald (1711-69).
Volume II, song 141, pages 147 and 148 - 'The Tears of Scotland' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)