Volume V, song 495, page 511 - 'Here's to thy health my bonie lass' - 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 'Loggan Burn'): 'Here's to thy health, my bonie lass, Gude night and joy be wi' thee: I'll come nae mair to thy bower door, To tell thee that I loe thee. O dinna think my pretty pink, But I can live without thee: I vow and swear, I dinna care, How lang ye look about ye.' 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. Johnson has included a note informing the reader that the song was 'written for this work by Rob(er)t Burns'. A fact that is also highlighted by the letter 'B' in the bottom right corner of the page. Burns is also thought to have furnished Johnson with the accompanying melody, entitled 'Laggan Burn' or 'Loggan Burn'. According to John Glen (1900), the tune is 'apparently a modification of a Strathspey in Gow's Third Collection, 1792, page 15, claimed by Nathaniel Gow under the title of 'Lady Shaftsbury's Strathspey'.' It is also appeared in Malcolm McDonald's 'Second Collection of Strathspey Reels, &c' of 1789 under the title 'Greenend Park'. Its first appearance as 'Laggan Burn', however, was in the 'Museum'.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503689

Title

Volume V, song 495, page 511 - 'Here's to thy health my bonie lass' - 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