Volume III, song 219, page 228 - 'The brisk young Lad' -...
Volume III, song 219, page 228 - 'The brisk young Lad' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)
Verse 1: 'There came a young man to my daddie's door, My daddie's door, my daddie's door, There came a young man to my daddie's door, Came seeking me to woo. And wow, but he was a braw young lad, A brisk young lad and a braw young lad, And wow but he was a braw young lad, Came seeking me to woo.'
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 John Glen, in 'Early Scottish Melodies' (1900), 'the tune wedded to this old humorous song is called 'Bung your eyes''. It appeared in a number of early song collections prior to the 'Museum', including John Walsh's 'Caledonian Country Dances' (c. 1740). The song or ballad, meanwhile, is known to have appeared without any musical accompaniment in David Herd's 'Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs' (1776).
Volume III, song 219, page 228 - 'The brisk young Lad' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)