Volume V, song 477, pages 490 and 491 - 'There was a silly Shepherd Swain' - 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 was a silly shepherd swain, Kept sheep upon a hill, He laid his pipe and crook aside, And there he slept his fill. He laid his pipe and crook aside, And there he slept his fill.' 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 an unusual inclusion for the 'Museum' as Burns preferred only to include material which was of Scots origin. There is no previous record of this song in Scottish print and it has recently been concluded that neither the lyrics nor the verse show any Scottish characteristics. The song seems to originate in the English pastoral tradition, whose popularity was at this time on the wane. Burns often altered or improved many of the songs in the 'Museum' and it may be that some of the words have been given a Scots dialect gloss. Unfortunately it is now difficult to know which parts are additions as no records were made at the time.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503671

Title

Volume V, song 477, pages 490 and 491 - 'There was a silly Shepherd Swain' - 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