Volume IV, song 329, page 339 - 'Sensibility how charming'...
Volume IV, song 329, page 339 - 'Sensibility how charming' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)
Verse 1: 'Sensibility how charming, Dearest Nancy; thou canst tell, But distress with horrors arming, Thou hast also known too well. Fairest flower, behold the lily, Blooming in the sunny ray. Let the blast sweep o'er the valley, See it prostrate on the clay. Fairest flower, behold the lily, Blooming in the sunny ray; Let the blast sweep o'er the valley; See it prostrate on the clay.'
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 lyrics of this song were written by Robert Burns, perhaps specifically for the 'Museum'. The cult of sensibility remained popular during the first half of the eighteenth century but was beginning to die away at the time these lyrics were composed. The cult involved obeying codes of morality and honour, whilst retaining feelings and sympathy in order to demonstrate acute sensibility and true virtue. All of these themes were treated both seriously and satirically by the many authors who chose to write in this style. The tune was composed by Malcolm Stewart of Edinburgh, who also ran a music business in the city, and is called 'Cornwallis's Lament for Colonel Muirhead'.
Volume IV, song 329, page 339 - 'Sensibility how charming' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)