Volume V, song 462, pages 474 and 475 - 'The Rantin Laddie' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Verse 1: 'Aften hae I play'd at the cards and the dice, For the love of a bonie rantin' laddie; But now I maun fit in my fathers kitchen neuk and Below a bastard babie.' 'Below' should read as 'belou' and means 'to hush' whilst 'rantin' means 'boisterous' in Old Scots. 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 moral tale is typical of the sort of warnings which were conveyed to the public by folksongs. It would have been the easiest and quickest way of disseminating an idea through a largely illiterate and scattered populace. This tune was given by Burns to Johnson for the 'Museum' but it is not known where or who he collected it from. It is thought to show northern characteristics and so may have its origin there. The tune also goes by the title of 'Lord Aboyne'.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503656

Title

Volume V, song 462, pages 474 and 475 - 'The Rantin Laddie' - 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

- 258 x 211 mm