Volume V, song 463, page 476 - 'The Lass that winna sit down' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Verse 1: 'What think ye o' the scornfu' quine 'ill no sit down by me I'll see the day that she'll repine unless she does agree. O she did hoot, and toot and flout 'cause I bad her sit down; But the next time that e'er I do't I'll be whip't like a loon. wi' a Tirry &c.' The northern Scots word for a young girl is 'quine' whilst a 'loon' is a rascal or ragamuffin. 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 song is believed to be the work of the Edinburgh engraver Alexander Robertson. Only fragmentary information on Robertson survives. He is known to have been in business in Edinburgh by 1799. He was married in 1800, apparently, and is known to have subscribed to David Crawford's 'Poems chiefly in the Scots Dialect' (1789). The melody is thought to be an adaptation of two earlier tunes, namely 'Mr Graham of Orchills Strathspey' and 'Daniel Dows Highland Skip'.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503657

Title

Volume V, song 463, page 476 - 'The Lass that winna sit down' - 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

- 129 x 211 mm