Volume I, song 010, pages 10 and 11 - 'Woo'd and Married and a'' - 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 bride came out of the byre, And O as she dighted her cheeks!, Sirs, I'm to be married the night, And has neither blankets, nor sheets, Has neither blankets nor sheets, Nor scarce a coverlet too. The bride that has a'thing to borrow, Has right meikle ado.' Chorus: 'Woo'd and married and a' Woo'd and married and a' An' was nae she very weel aff, That was woo'd and married and a'.' 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. Glen, in 'Early Scottish Melodies' (1900) refutes Stenhouse's (1853) claim that this song 'was quite current on the Border' long before the 'Tea-Table Miscellany (1724). Glen says 'In the absence of any evidence we are very doubtful of this assertion.' He goes on to remark that the tune of 'Woo'd and Married and a'' is also used in the English song 'I made love to Kate', and suggests that it was written in the 1750s, just thirty years or so before the song was published in the 'Museum'.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503207

Title

Volume I, song 010, pages 10 and 11 - 'Woo'd and Married and a'' - 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

- 130 x 211 mm