Volume II, song 127, page 133 - 'O Mither dear' - Scanned...
Volume II, song 127, page 133 - 'O Mither dear' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)
Verse 1 (to the tune of 'Jenny dang the weaver'): 'O Mither dear, I 'gin to fear, Tho' I'm baith good and bonny, I winna keep, for in my sleep, I start, and dream of Johnny. When Johnny then comes down the glen To woo me dinna hinder, But wi' content gi' your consent, For we twa ne'er can sinder.' 'Sinder' means to part.
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.
According to Glen (1900), the earliest known appearance of this tune in a printed collection was in the second edition of William Thomson's 'Orpheus Caledonius', published in 1733. Although there is no visible record of 'Jenny dang the weaver' before this date, Glen believes that as a dance tune 'it is of an earlier date'.
Volume II, song 127, page 133 - 'O Mither dear' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)